My Best Friend's Wedding
by ThinksInWords
Summary: Éponine Thenardiér always thought that Marius would eventually come back to her, until the wedding invitation came in the mail. Now she is going to do everything that she can to get him back from that blonde tart Cosette. Nothing goes according to plan and even her partner in crime Enjolras is becoming an obstacle. E/E.
1. Prologue

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: This is not mine. It's Victor Hugo's and some hints of a certain Julia Roberts movie – you know which one I mean.

AN: Yes, so, I shouldn't be posting this already, but I wanted to get some opinions on this while I work on the body of the story. For the purpose of the story there is one-sided Éponine/Marius – just to make sure everyone's properly warned.

Prologue

8 years old

Marius is her best friend in the whole wide world. Her parents are mean and her sister cries a lot and all her brother does is poop – because he is a baby and all babies do is cry and poop. It's super boring. At least she still has Marius.

His freckles are funny and he likes to read with her.

He has not told her his favorite book yet, but that is okay because she wants to read her favorite book. Her favorite, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is funny and there is lots of candy, and she likes candy and chocolate. Daddy never lets her eat chocolate because it will make her ugly, he says. Marius' mom gives her cookies. She's nice.

She has asked his mom if she can live with them, and his mom explained that her parents would have to say that it was okay – and she knows that they won't say that because they still get money to raise her. Her parents like money.

There is basically nothing her parents like more than money – not even her or Azelma or little Gavroche. Well, babies are annoying, but her parents should still like him.

She knows that Marius' parents like him. She thinks that they might like her too.

"Do you want to read Charlie again?" Marius asks her.

It is warm outside, so he has even more freckles than he had before. She asked him if she could count them and he said that she could one day when he was bored. He has not been bored yet, but she is still holding out hope.

Counting things is super fun, but reading is still the best thing in the world.

"I always want to read Charlie, duh," she answers, sticking her tongue out at him.

He sticks his tongue out right back and if her daddy were here with them, he would try to steal their tongue – because her daddy can do that and when she is older, he is going to teach her how to steal tongues. He promised!

"I get to read the first part," Marius announces, and she nods.

Marius always reads the first part, because he likes to read that part best and he is her friend so she lets him do what he likes best. That is what being friends means.

Their teacher Miss Gardiner taught them that, and Miss Gardiner might be even smarter than her daddy and her mommy are, so she has to listen to her. It is in her best interest to listen to people who are smarter than her – Daddy told her that.

She always listens to her Daddy, because her Daddy is very smart too.

The couch at Marius' is super nice and they have the best pillows in the whole wide world, because they are the perfect size to lay down on and so fluffy that she has fallen asleep on them several times – they made her miss dinner.

"You're my bestest friend in the whole world," she announces to Marius.

"You're my best friend too," Marius tells her solemnly.

Now they are both happy.

11 years old

Marius' mom is really sick, and it makes him sad. It makes her sad too, because she is the nicest lady she knows and she is a better mother than her own mother. Marius' mom is really patient, even when she says things that she knows are stupid and that her own mother would get really angry over. She hates it when her mother is angry.

Gavroche's cries make both of her parents angry a lot, so she plays with him as much as she can when she is not in school, because he never cries when she is with him.

Her dear boy is not old enough for school yet – he has turned three a few months ago – and so she still has a full year left of hoping Gavroche will stay quiet enough to let their parents run all of their schemes in peace. If there is no peace, there is no food.

They always need more food.

"Eppie," her friend is here again.

"Hey Marius," she smiles at him, because she likes him – likes him likes him.

It is not the right time to tell him, she knows that much, but she thinks that she will tell him when his mother gets better. He will be happy then, and that is a good time to tell him. People always react better to things when they are happy – she learned that from many failed tries of telling her parents about things.

"Do you wanna go to the tree house?" he asks.

It is their absolute favorite place in the whole wide world. Mr. Yates helped them build it, because Marius said his father always asked Mr. Yates to do things for him in the garden, and he knew where all of the stuff was that they needed to build it.

Also, Mr. Yates is the best at building things, because he made them a really nice ladder and their tree house has a porch and is totally water proof so that they can actually keep things in there – they have bean bags and a table, and lots of games to play when the tree house itself is boring. The tree house really never gets boring.

"Sure," she says and takes off running, not waiting for him to follow.

He always wins when they race, so she just never tells him when she starts running – when he finally gets it, she usually wins the race by a nose length. He claims it is cheating, but she knows that this is just the only way that she can win, so she tells him that this is just being smart, just like her parents have taught her.

"Eppie, that is not fair," he is shouting as he lags behind her.

Marius always calls her Eppie – he is the only one who does – and she likes that she is super special to him because they have a special nickname that they share.

She does not have to run very far, so she can leave Marius in her dust.

"I win," she taps the ladder to the tree house first.

"You cheated," Marius complains, and she has to stick out her tongue at him.

Because he is a bit angry, she lets him be the first one to climb up the ladder, to make him feel better about losing the race to a girl. She does not understand why boys are always so angry when a girl does something better than them, and why when girls are angry when a boy beats them, they are told that boys are just stronger and faster than girls. She thinks that is wrong, because she can be just as strong as a boy.

"I played smart," she follows him up the ladder.

"It is not smart to cheat," he recites a lesson he has been taught.

That is why his parents are different from hers – because her parents teach her that it is okay to cheat if you play it smart, and his parents tell him that cheating is not clever and that it is never okay to cheat. She does not know whose parents are right.

They plop down in their beanbags and smile.

15 years old

Marius is the cutest guy in school, and she feels like the luckiest girl in the world just because she gets to walk the halls with him every single day. He is student body president and liked by absolutely everyone, and she is just the poor girl with the weird clothes that everyone only knows as the Shadow.

Boys ask her if she wants to go under the bleachers all of the time, because they think that she has nothing better to do than play with their pencil dicks. It is always more important to help Marius figure out his latest algebra problem – he is surprisingly bad at math, which is why he nominated her as student body treasurer and she actually got accepted because everybody loves Marius Pontmercy at this school. They pretty much do whatever the golden boy says; even let poor Éponine Thenardiér have a position of some power in the school. She expected more comments about her family's problem with kleptomania, but there was nothing because Marius vouched for her.

"Hey Eppie," the guy in question needs her help again.

"Hey Marius," she tries to hide her stupid blush, because he is so cute.

He still has the same freckles that she did eventually get to count when she was ten, and his hair is now the cool kind of messy that only boys can achieve. Her hair is just stupid and dark and tangled – not pretty and straight and blonde like all of the popular girls who always try to talk to Marius in the hallways. They do not like her very much at all, because Marius likes her better than he likes them – that is why she is being pushed into lockers and why her clothes keep getting stolen after gym class and being dumped in a toilet or a dumpster. At least, she has to believe that that is the real reason.

It could also be that she is just ugly and stupid, just like her father says.

"My teacher told me I really need to raise my Algebra grade or I will not be eligible for student council any longer," he rolls his eyes. "So please help me. Please!"

They are only fifteen and still there is already so much pressure on them. Marius' father and grandfather really want him to follow in their footsteps and become a fancy lawyer for the bored and wealthy, so they are pressuring him to participate in activities that will look good on his résumé, such as student council. And he goes along with them, because he believes that they have his best interests at heart.

She has stopped listening to her parents a while back – the only parent she will ever listen to is Marius' mother. The woman is long gone now, but she had so much valuable advice to share that she has tried to remember word for word.

His mother always used to believe that she and Marius would get together one day, and then decide to marry, have children, and live happily ever after.

In her heart, she still believes that this could happen.

18 years old

It is only three months until graduation, and she simply cannot wait to finally get out of this damn town and finally start making a life of her own – at college, because she actually got a scholarship at the very last minute.

She is actually going to get out of this town and leave for the city with Marius. They will be at different colleges, but still in the same city. That is still close enough for her to make sure that they stay friends – she would die without him near. She has not been without him for very long since they met, and that was ten years ago.

"We're getting out of this town," Marius comes up for a high five.

"Damn skippy we are getting out," she feels like dancing. "We are going to move to the city and make the entire world our bitch! I would say that is our plan!"

There are some angry looks from nearby students who are going to be pumping her gas if she ever comes back to this town, but she is not going to give a shit about them and their lack of a future – because she finally has something good right on the horizon, and she is going to focus on that. She can get away from her parents and this miserable place in less than three months, and Marius is going to be right there with her. There is finally a future for her that does not involve a gutter and/or an overdose – because that was the future that people like her parents always told her she would have. They were wrong.

"I dumped Becky," he comes completely out of left field with that revelation.

This makes her a bad friend, because she is super happy that the cheerleader will now be out of their lives – Becky had the nasty tendency to have the team mess with her for being friends with Marius and quote-unquote "interfering in her relationship", even though she has never dared to diss a girlfriend in Marius' face.

"I'm sorry," she tells him, even though she is not sorry in any way.

"I found out that she was going to try to mess with you," his face is tight and his hands tremble in anger. "She asked me to choose, and I chose my best friend. I mean, who else would I choose, right? But I guess that means that I am single once again."

Is she dreaming? No, the pinch that she gives herself does hurt, so that means that she is wide awake and Marius still chose her over the perfect blonde cheerleader. He really values her friendship, and even though she has pretty much been hopelessly in love with him since freshman year, she still appreciates his friendship more than anything in the whole wide world. Basically, it is one of the few good things in her life.

"I am still single too," she tries to give him a subtle clue.

"We cannot seem to find the right people," he pats her shoulder; the picture perfect idea of a platonic friend. "Do you know what we should do? We should make a pact."

She is listening intently, because this could be something really interesting.

"What kind of pact?" she prompts him to keep talking.

"If we are still not engaged or married in ten years," he continues his speech, leaving her on the edge of her metaphorical seat, since she is standing, "we should just get married."

With her track record, her odds of still being single at age twenty-seven or twenty-eight are incredibly high – so that should be good. Still, is he actually saying what she thinks he is saying, or is wishful thinking ruling her brain now? Did he really say that?

"You mean the two of us?" she asks, trying to see if she heard him right.

"Of course," he smiles at her, and she melts a little. "You're my best friend, Eppie."

And this is how her best friend always makes her dreams come true.

22 years old

"We did it," Marius hoists her onto his shoulders and she squeals with glee.

"We graduated," she shouts at the skies. "College graduates, bitches!"

They might be more than a little drunk, and not just with happiness. Most of the Amis were at Marius' graduation party, and R is the best at getting everyone more booze than they could ever need – and he definitely succeeded again this time. Things are not really blurry, but she is not quite steady on her feet, and everything makes her giggle.

Marius is a shouter when he is drunk, and he gets very cuddly, which she likes.

"We are the king and queen of campus," he tries to twirl, and she screams.

"Put me down, Marius," she commands like the queen he made her.

He complies after making her wait for it for a little while, and then he swings her down from his shoulders, making her shriek with the unexpected movement. When she is finally on her feet again and she is sure that she won't hurl, she smacks his arm.

"You're terrible," she giggles.

"You love me," he teases, pursing his lips at her and hugging her from behind.

If only he knew how right he was about that part – but she is determined not to tell him until she is sure that he likes her that way as well. Right now, even though they are both single, she is still waiting for him to finally make a move.

Maybe the time finally is right at this moment.

"Still single, Eppie?" he asks her, as if he does not already know.

"Of course," she rolls her eyes at him, comfortable in his arms. "You know that already."

The thing with Montparnasse that started in sophomore year fizzled out over six months ago, when he started treating her worse and worse until one of Marius' friends caught him calling her names and moving to hit her. She can't remember which friend it was, and she does not know what he said, but whenever she sees Montparnasse now, he looks scared in a way that she has never seen on a man.

She kind of wants to thank the guy, but she can't remember his name. She believes that he is one of the Amis, but she never sees him at any parties, so she does not remember him from anything real. Oh well, maybe someday she will see him again.

Right now Marius is the most important man in her life.

"Six more years," he reminds her. "We could be married in six years."

If he was not being so distant about him, she would marry him right this second if he asks her. Still, all he is asking for is six more years – she can handle that.

It is not as if there is anyone stepping in to take her place.

AN: So that's where we start. The real story starts around Éponine's twenty-eighth birthday. And yes, I promise that Enjolras is in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter One

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. I'm just playing in Victor Hugo's sandbox.

AN: I want to thank everyone who reviewed and/or thought that this was interesting enough to follow. This chapter is dedicated to my friend Mary, for always being there with comments and suggestions when I'm a dork and need help. She was also nice enough to look this chapter over! Yay Mary!

Chapter one: In for a surprise

_You are cordially invited_

_To the wedding of_

_Marius Sebastian Pontmercy_

_Cosette Michelle Fauchelevent_

"What the actual flying fuck?" is her perfect ladylike reaction to the invitation.

This is the last thing that she needs today, because her day at work has been positively terrible and her boss tried to hit on her again and the thought of Marius calling her soon was basically the only reason for making it through the day. Her twenty-eighth birthday was only a month away, and she was waiting for him to keep his promise.

But apparently he had forgotten all about the promise they made.

"Asshole," another curse word slips past her lips.

She had been doing so well on the scaling back with that, but of course all of her progress is forgotten with a single message from Marius. This is not the first time that she has gotten her hopes up over the last few years when it comes to the promise – it has started happening more and more over the last year. She was so close.

Once again happily ever after is not in her grasp.

There is also an RSVP notice in the envelope, and that makes her even more resentful of her dear old friend Marius and his stupid lady friend. She has been so busy waiting for Marius to finally notice her that she has had no time to try to find someone else to come with her to this stupid wedding – and she is damn sure that she is not going to go there alone and wait for the pitying looks that everyone will surely give her.

The only good thing about Marius giving this epic party is that there will be plenty of alcohol there – unless R is in grand form again and drinks the town dry.

That makes her remember: the Amis! Of course Marius' old college friends will all be present at the festivities. That means that she will not have to be totally alone, but it also means that there will be more men to either pity her over her obvious crush on Marius – most of the guys figured it out within a week of meeting her – or to roll their eyes at her inability to get over Marius 'Dumbass' Pontmercy.

She makes a mental list of all of the Amis and their respective love lives, because at least one of these guys has to be dateless enough to go with her to this shindig.

R Grant – finally has a serious relationship after years of pining over one of his close friends. R loves her and would totally ditch his date for her, but she would never take away his happiness after all of this time.

Joseph 'Joly' Leigh – has been with his Melody for years now, even though they often include their friend Bossuet in their liaisons. She does not want to know all that much about this open relationship, but it makes them all very happy and so it means that she has no right to judge. They are doing better than she is.

Courfeyrac and Combeferre will both have dates if she knows them at all. Combeferre is a serial monogamist and Courfeyrac is the most notorious flirt she knows. They will both have absolutely no problems with finding a date to a wedding.

Jehan will have written some lucky – or unlucky, if you ask her – some love poetry and convinced her to go with him to the wedding. Honestly, while she pretty much adores Jehan and his beautiful flowers – he has the best flower shop in the country, and pretty much the only one that also provides cards with original poetry on them. She would rather die than admit it to anyone but Jehan himself, but his romantic poetry is absolutely beautiful and she wishes that someone would send it to her.

No one ever will, and she knows it.

Also, that is pretty much all of the Amis – at least the ones who would actually remember her. She can barely remember Feuilly and Bahorel for example, and she doubts that they will remember her name or her face. They were always either working hard on their respective craft or carefully listening to- Fuck!

It looks like her only option is Enjolras, the fearless leader of the Amis who has never shown a hint of having a deal or a sex drive. His priorities are always with lady Justice, who is also the only lady who has ever gotten close enough to him to possibly determine if there is anything other than Ken doll down there – she has certainly never been allowed close enough to find out. She now doubts if she even needs to know whatever he is hiding down there. There are other priorities to figure out first.

Like, is she desperate enough to even ask Enjolras to come as her date?

She has only met the guy a few times and she doubts that she made very much of an impression on him at those times, because she was probably only there to spend time with Marius, rather than to meet his friends from college.

Enjolras was not the most sociable friend Marius had at the time, so they mostly stayed in their respective corners while he dared to speech about her neighborhood and how terrible and unsafe it was. At one point she just had to tell him to perform some kind of anatomically impossible sex act upon himself because she was sick of it.

He did not take it well, but she earned the respect of most of the Amis – mostly R, because he had always wanted to say something like that to the man without being called lovesick. Honestly, that thing was years ago, they should get over it.

That is what she told R, and she made a friend for life.

Still, that is definitely not going to help her with Enjolras – she thinks it is his last name, because she heard a drunken R call him Gabriel once. That is what she is sticking with.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

She is standing outside his apartment – R gave her the address without asking too many questions about why she needed it. She may have told him that she was going to pull the most epic of pranks – she may be right about that, only R will believe that she is pranking Enjolras, when she is in fact trying to freak Marius out at his own wedding.

That is, she will get to freak Marius out at his own wedding if Enjolras does not laugh in her face and reject her idea without even thinking about it.

The odds of him rejecting her are pretty high, but she is still going to give it a try. One cannot win, if one does not try, right? She has to try.

"Don't kill me," she requests as soon as her opens the door.

"I don't see why I would," is the calm response from him.

At least he does not seem to hate her all that much, which is a relief. If he still hated her for the anatomically impossible action she advised him on, it was going to be a much tougher sell to make him come with her to the big event – she has been invited to everything from the rehearsal dinner to the bachelor party, since apparently Cosette really wants her in the wedding. More like, Marius is feeling guilty again.

Enjolras looks pretty much the same as she remembers him. His lovely curls are still there, luckily, because she feared that the law firm he works for would make him slick it all down to make him just another drone. The curls make him look softer and younger, and she likes that for some reason – maybe it is because seeing something out of order on him is a sign that he is not completely perfect. He always seemed to be overly perfect in absolutely everything except for some of his opinions and that hair.

"Do you remember me?" he has to remember her for this to even work.

"Of course I remember you," his affirmative answer gives her the opportunity to relax at least a little bit. "You are Marius' friend, miss Éponine."

The fact that he calls her miss even when he has seen her drunk and wearing very little clothing is just typical of him. She just gets really hot when she drinks and removing clothes usually helps with that – there is nothing hinky there, okay!

He calls her miss and she hates that, but she does not want to anger or frustrate him, since she still needs to ask a pretty big favor of him.

"Yes, I'm Éponine Thenardiér," she introduces herself again anyway.

"I'm Enjolras," he is once again trying to be like Madonna.

"You're Gabriel," she takes pleasure in surprising him with that name. "I remember."

There is a chance that he might be really pissed with R for revealing that name, but she cannot bring it upon herself to care about that all that much. It made her able to surprise him, and he is always more intrigued by someone who surprises him. She does not know anything to say, or anything that might sway his opinion, but she will try it all.

"Nobody calls me Gabriel," his arms are crossed and he is not letting her inside.

"I remember," she responds with a grin, "and I still don't care."

Honestly, what was he even expecting from a girl like her? She lives for making people squirm in several different ways, especially upstanding lawyers like him. She should be beyond that relatively childish urge, but she is not and probably never will be.

"Since you are undoubtedly here to ask for a favor," he is finally letting her into the relative warmth of his apartment, "that is not a good start."

He has to have hired some kind of interior decorator for his apartment to look this good – it does not even look remotely like the typical bachelor pad that she has seen with most of the other Amis. She expects that he is a naturally neat and tidy person, but this just crazy and straight out of a catalogue. There are warm colors and hints of a lovely burgundy red – if she had more money, she would get some of this stuff too.

"Why would I be here to ask a favor?" she sends him an innocent look.

"One: I rarely see you unless Marius is around," Enjolras definitely does not mince his words, making her flinch at her friend's name. "Two: I got the same invitation."

Damn! Shit! Bugger! Fuck! Of course he would already know that Marius was getting married to his darling Cosette – he has gotten the same invitation she has, only without the invites for some of the stuff before the wedding. There is so much going on for her, and she really does not want to do that all alone. She really needs someone to be there with her, and it might as well be Gabriel Enjolras.

"Will you go as my date?" she blurts it out quickly, to get it over with.

There is silence then, because he obviously is not expecting something like this. So she waits, sitting down on the damn comfortable sofa she kind of wants to live on for the rest of her natural born life – she could sleep on this thing and she would still be more comfortable than she usually is on her own cheep and crappy bed. She might have to fake an emergency as an excuse to sleep on this couch. She could do that.

"Are you planning to actually attend?" that seems to be the biggest surprise for him.

"If only to show Marius that he's making a mistake," she holds her head up.

She has the perfect dress in her closet to make a grown man weep and more than enough time before she leaves to plan some serious mischief and stop this stupid wedding in its tracks. All she needs is for a date to be there with her.

"That is the Éponine I remember," he scoffs at the entire idea.

Of course he is another one of those guys who only remembers her as being the Shadow, that skinny little thing who was always chasing Marius around while Marius himself fooled around with many a single co-ed. As long as he does not pity her, she can refrain from tearing him a new one – she does not respond well to pity.

"Will you go?" she asks him again, hoping for a real answer.

"It is not as if there is anyone else," a dismissive look. "Sure, I will go with you."

What can she promise him that will make him agree to go with her? There is nothing that she knows of that he will even want – he is not like the other guys she knows.

"I promise I will –," she tries to think of something. "You said yes?"

So it took a while for the words he said to actually make sense in her head. She was just so prepared for him to deny her request that she did not even bother to prepare for a situation in which he almost immediately agreed to help her.

"Yes, I did say yes," he is obviously trying not to laugh at her.

If it was anyone but the high and mighty Enjolras, she would have casually stepped on his foot or otherwise have made him pay for laughing at her when he is the one who is acting completely out of any expectation that she has for him. He is supposed to be this completely different person, and she still suspects that he has a completely different reason for saying yes to her than just trying to be nice. He has to have some kind of ulterior motive for going to the wedding with her – she needs to know.

"Why would you even say yes?" she has to question him because she is an idiot.

"Because Marius is an idiot who treats you like shit," he completely baffles her.

What the fuck is that? Marius is his friend, and he is not supposed to talk about any friend of his like that – and she is damn well not going to let him talk about her best friend like that. Marius is occasionally oblivious, but he is certainly not an idiot and he definitely does not treat her like shit. There is nothing wrong with Marius.

"Marius is perfect," she vehemently protests.

Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, because no person in the entire world is perfect, but Marius is the closest thing to perfection she has ever known. He is kind and generous to a fault, and she would hate that in any other person, but he has never made her feel pitied and small – he has made her feel appreciated because no one else ever bothered with her. Marius is the only person in her life who has ever really listened to her and made things better and stupid Enjolras does not get to hate on him when she would not have made it through if it had not been for Marius.

"Whatever you say, Ponine," this guy actually dares to nickname her.

"It's Cosette who worries me," she admits with some trepidation.

If she knows Marius at all – and she knows him better than anyone – Cosette will be another pretty blonde with a double-digit IQ and huge… tracts of land. Marius has a history of falling for the shallow type, which is why they made the pact and why she hoped that he would finally grow to understand that he needed someone more like her rather than another buxom blonde who did not laugh at his jokes.

"And you could use another friend there," he is surprisingly understanding.

Yes, she could use another friend as the love of her life marries a stupid girl, but she is unlucky enough to not really have any other real friends other than Marius. She knows some of the Amis, but she does not feel that she knows them well enough to leave them with her as their burden for such a long time. They deserve better.

Even Enjolras deserves better, but apparently he is still signing on for this.

"When did we become friends?" she is trying not to look down on him.

"When you asked me as your date to Marius' wedding," he is quick to reply.

Well, he actually kind of maybe has a point there, and she hates that.

"This is not a date," she has to remind him, even though he knows.

"I never thought it would be," he rolls his eyes briefly.

She doubts that he has ever been on a date in his entire long life. He is getting closer to thirty, just like she is, and still there is no interest in love and in a family. He still continues to sound bored with women and/or men and dates and other romantic business. She is doubtful that he will ever get a family, and she is kind of sad about that, because staying alone is one of her biggest fears for herself – and she really does not want it to happen to anyone else, even Mister Moron Enjolras.

"Your one true love is Patria," now it is her turn to roll her eyes.

"Always has been, always will be," he replies without a hint of humor in his voice.

Shit, he is actually serious about that? She thought the whole Patria thing was just some kind of exaggeration that R has told her about because he wanted to make her laugh. But now it seems that Enjolras is actually serious about loving his country above all people and creatures on the planet. She thinks that is just damn weird and a bit creepy.

"R told me about seven minutes in heaven," she reminds him of the olden days.

"It was high school," Enjolras is not happy. "I was forced to kiss her."

The anecdote made her laugh hysterically at the time, and even now she still finds it funny as hell to think of a teenage Enjolras with all of his formalities and distant words, forced into a closet with a classmate. She knows that the other kids where probably hoping for him to get more normal after that, but they ended up only strengthening his belief that relationships were not interesting and merely a distraction from the greater goals he already aspired to at that time. He has not changed much since then.

"You asked him if kissing girls was supposed to be this gross," she has to continue.

A part of her kind of understands at least this part of the story, because middle school and high school kissing is usually just gross and wet. She has a few similar experiences herself, but she did not go around complaining about how kissing sucked. She figured out that she needed to try it with older, more experienced boys first before she wrote it off completely – she ended up firmly on the pro-kissing and sex side.

"I was fourteen," he needs to remind her of how long ago this happened.

"And he kissed you later and you broke his heart," the sad part comes in.

So little R was in love with his best friend even back then, and it has taken him a very long time to be able to get over it and stop waiting for Enjolras to see him as a possible romantic partner. She admires R's strength and she still feels a bit of resentment for Enjolras for not treating his friend properly when all this happened.

"I was fourteen and was not interested in any of these things," he tries to sound strong, but she can hear some regret in his voice as well. "I'm still not interested."

When he speaks like that, and she can hear that he never wanted to hurt R, she can see his side of the story as well. While R undoubtedly thought that Enjolras denouncing girls was a dream come through, for the man himself it was only a reaffirming of the idea that relationships were a bad idea – with anyone. So the kiss was doomed to be a disaster, and things were doomed to be awkward after that. Still, she admires that the two of them continue to be friends to this very idea, after everything.

"Which is why you were the only person without a date to the wedding," she shrugs.

"In that case, you should be glad I'm celibate," he replies pointedly.

So maybe she actually is a little happy that he is celibate, otherwise he would not be sitting next to her on his comfortable couch after having agreed to be her friend and date to Marius' wedding. Yeah, she likes it when it is convenient for her.

Wow, that really makes her sound like a terrible person.

"Yeah, you're my favorite monk," she jokes, jostling his shoulder.

He almost flinches at the touch, and she is trying really hard not to feel insulted by that.

"I'm still an atheist, Éponine," he continues to not have any of this.

She really needs to work with him on showing a sense of humor if they are going to be undertaking Mission No Marriage For Marius together. A sense of humor might be vital when she is too depressed to even look at Marius and his stupid bride to be – and it will be the key to rubbing their pretend relationship in Marius' face.

"I'm still joking, Gabriel my angel," she winks at him happily.

The name is strangely appropriate, because she has heard him described as an angel who is capable of doing terrible things for the sake of justice and equality. He is a warrior angel, and she is going to have herself a nice inside joke over that while he looks on in annoyed surprise. Only he seems to be almost okay with her teasing him like this, and that makes her even happier about it. Finally, there is a sense of humor.

"What does that make you?" the teasing tone in his voice is still a complete surprise.

"A devil in a red dress," she grins in response. "Red is your favorite color."

There was some minor research before she arrived at his apartment to actually ask him the important question. The fact that red is his favorite color is actually quite handy, because she has a killer red dress in her closet that she has been dying to wear – she just needed the right reason to wear this gift from her boss. She likes to spend her Christmas bonus on frivolous things now that she can afford that.

"What does that have to do with anything?" he does not get it.

"I have to remember all information that might make Marius jealous," she explains.

Because she does know all of these things about Marius, and nobody else until she bothered to ask for these things concerning Enjolras. She hopes that Marius will be annoyed by her possibly having found a replacement for him – and turned on by her wearing that fucking fabulous red dress. If all goes well, even Enjolras himself will be stunned and aroused enough to start worrying about the pole in his pants.

"How is that going to make Marius jealous?" Enjolras continues to miss the point.

"Just watch and learn, grasshopper," she jokes. "You'll understand eventually."

Maybe she could take him under her wing and teach him the politics of girl world, because that will undoubtedly come in handy for him in the future, whether it will be for a case or for the moment that he finally realizes that he is actually pretty good-looking and that is why women keep staring at him. God forbid, maybe it will be useful for the moment in which he finally realizes that he wants love and/or sex after all.

"And my friends wonder why I don't understand women," he is only partly joking.

"At least you are honest about it," she can most definitely applaud him for his honesty and bravery in admitting it. "Most men seem to think that they get it."

She likes the idea of silly Éponine being able to teach the wise Enjolras things, because he is the one with the Ivy League education and the big job and the fancy suits, while she is the girl from the streets who finally snagged a scholarship and made herself into a passable guidance counselor at a nearby private school – thank God for summer break.

"I'm not most men," his voice is harsh and fraught with pain.

"That is just too cliché, Gabriel," she makes a joke out of it.

Even though it is quite obviously true; he is very different from most men she knows, she still feels the need to make a joke about it. She has heard this line before from other men, and Gabriel is the first person that it actually applies to.

"Just don't call me that," he is still not amused.

"I'm your date," she pouts at him, sticking out her lower lip in a way that used to drive all the boys crazy. "I should at least be able to call you by your first name."

It would just be odd for the two of them to arrive together under the guise of them being a couple and her constantly having to be formal and calling him by his last name because he is being a stick in the mud again and he will not allow her to call him Gabriel. She does not understand why he hates his name so much. It is not even embarrassing.

"I'd rather hear a pet name than that," he makes the mistake of telling her that.

He has given her free reign to think of the weirdest things that she has ever heard someone being called by their significant other – and she definitely has a long list of weird names to choose from. He does not know what he has done.

"I don't understand why you can hate your name," she gives it one last try.

"I'm still not talking about it," he is frowning, and she knows the game is up.

Well, now it is just his own fault and he should be prepared for embarrassment the likes of which he has never known – and he has been friends with R for most of his life. The mental list does not start out too bad, but it just gets progressively worse until she gets to the names that she can barely say without cracking up herself.

"Okay, snookums," she starts trying some of the most ridiculous pet names that she can think of – without losing it. "Baby. Dear. Honey. Sweetie. Darling. Pookie."

These are some of the milder ones, but she just completely loses it at Pookie, because she can just imagine the look on everybody's face when she calls the great Gabriel Enjolras Pookie in front of his friends. R would probably give her the biggest high five that she has ever received and everyone else would be too surprised to do anything but laugh really loudly. Enjolras himself would just be really pissed.

"Can you not call me anything?" he demands of her.

"That is not going to happen," she announces happily.

The answering groan that she gets is a good representation of what she will be able to expect over the course of the next few weeks.

This should be good!

AN: I don't have a strict update schedule like I did last time, because it all depends on how fast the writing goes. These chapters are a lot longer than the ones I wrote for RAWM, so it'll probably take longer. Come hang out with me on Tumblr (textsfromumbridge) or Twitter (dutchmoxie) in the meantime, or go read Tides by AliceInSomewhereland/thisislavieboheme/MARY! – 'cause it's good!


	3. Chapter Two

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: It's still not mine. And that's still not surprising.

AN: This huge chapter is only being updated right now because AliceInSomewhereland/thisislavieboheme/Mary is an amazing person.

Chapter two: We are making evil plans

The flight is going to be long and extremely unpleasant, she knows that much.

But when the flight attendant seats the two of them next to each other in two of the most gigantic first class chairs she has ever seen, her day gets a whole lot better.

"Why are we in first class?" she first has to ask him.

"Because I have frequent flyers miles and I want us to be comfortable," he speaks.

It is probably a lawyer thing, those miles, and she has absolutely no problem with taking advantage of them for as long as she possibly can – starting with the comfy chair even the Angels would be jealous of and the free booze the flight attendants will bring to her any second now. Oh yes, life as the date of Gabriel Enjolras is good.

"The flight is not that long, right?" she gets ready to put her feet up.

"It's still a few hours," he looks like a bit of a nervous flyer.

She should not find his nervousness as adorable as she does, but there is just something about seeing the usually so composed Enjolras wringing his hands and staring at everything inside the plane, but never looking outside – not even for a second.

"I like it," she stares at her temporary kingdom happily. "There's room and free booze."

The chair can even swivel a little, and that is really all that she can ask for from a plane chair. She can really bug Enjolras with that, and that is always a good idea.

"Of course you would think of that," he seems annoyed with her already.

"The love of my life is getting married," she once again has to tell him the obvious reasons for this. "Of course I am thinking of getting trashed."

That is the right response to a situation like this one: her Marius is no longer her Marius, and that leads to her drinking straight out of the bottle – or it would have if she had been home for this. Now that she is in public and on a plane, dependent on the flight attendants to provide her with booze, she is going to make a tower of those tiny bottles and go to town. She just wants to forget about it for a little bit.

"I'm not holding your hair back when you get sick," he warns her.

"Why not, lover?" she gives him a pout and an exaggerated wink.

He gives her the perfect response for that nickname: a reflexive flinch and a twist of his face, and then an exasperated eye roll. There is none of the typical response of trying to picture the two of them as lovers; there is just the disgust at the nickname.

"Is that the latest nickname?" he scrunches up his face a little more.

"Yes, it is," she is pretty proud of this one. "And I kind of like it."

It is very evocative and she knows that it will surely puzzle Marius and his bimbo, which is basically what she is going for with this one. Everyone will be surprised at Enjolras actually being with a girl, and she is sure that Marius will start to wonder how she managed to get him under her spell and into her bed.

"I don't," Enjolras is not working with her this time.

"Yeah, I'm not taking your opinion into consideration," she speaks firmly. "You don't like anything except your last name, and I'm not calling you Enjolras the whole time."

Calling him by his last name for the duration of their fake relationship is not going to impress anyone, especially Marius. Enjolras needs to act as if he is wrapped around her pinky finger, and she needs to act as if she cannot stand to be without him for even the shortest second – and it would not hurt if they would both act like they simply cannot keep their hands off each other. Enjolras looks pretty darn bangable.

Damn her students and their need to use stupid slang!

"I don't see the problem," but sometimes the guy can be rather dense.

Honestly, what is she supposed to do, shout "Enjolras" when she is faking an orgasm or a kiss – either one will work. That is one of the least sexy things that she can think of, and it will make it super obvious for the Amis that they are faking, not that she has any chance of fooling those guys – Marius is the only one oblivious enough to fall for it.

"I'm supposed to be your date," she is raising her voice at him.

"I hate to be the one to tell you," he starts, and she rolls her eyes, "but no one will believe there is anything going on between the two of us. Not just because there is nothing going on between the two of us, but also because I am not interested in relationships."

He is a lawyer, so he should be a decent enough actor to at least make Marius believe that he has changed enough to allow her to be in a committed relationship with him. It has been a while since the two friends have seen each other – she has checked that with R before even bothering to ask Enjolras, because now that she knows that he has not seen Marius in at least a year, she can give their pretend relationship longevity.

"I should have brought someone else," she has now realized her mistake.

Why did she have any qualms about tearing another one of the Amis away from his date? Seriously, she knew that her only other option was Enjolras and that things were not going to be easy. She should really have asked someone else.

"If your aim was just to make Marius jealous," he starts, "yes, you should have."

She has more on her mind than just making Marius jealous that he was not the one who got his head out of his ass soon enough to notice her as a beautiful woman who was a great match of him – okay, she is exaggerating a bit because she knows that Marius' fiancée will undoubtedly be a fucking model and she is just the way too skinny girl whose chest never really came in. Her cheekbones stick out too much and her eyes are too big for her face, and her hair is too dark and her mouth is just weird.

Seeing his fiancée will surely give her enough inadequacy issues to last a lifetime.

"What are my other options?" inquiring minds desperately need to know.

"I'm willing to be your partner in crime," he gives her a pretty decent offer.

Is he seriously willing to betray his college friend like that for her? He barely even knows her, and he is still offering to help her basically ruin his friend's wedding. It would indeed be nice to have a partner in crime with her to help her make her evil plans and to shake at least some of the suspicion off her – the plan would be completely worthless if Marius ever found out that she was the person behind it.

"I thought you liked Cosette," she spits out the name with malice.

The name is ridiculous enough. It is French, a nickname for little thing that apparently has been turned into a real name somehow. The girl probably has two beautiful, kind, and rich parents who absolutely adore their little girl and pamper her so much that she is secretly the biggest spoiled brat anyone has ever known. She has to be a blonde, and she has to be super busty – because that is just Marius' type. It has been so far.

"I've never even met her, just like you," he shrugs carelessly.

"I can't believe he's been keeping her a secret from me," her frustration takes over.

Apparently the very real title of best friend means nothing to him whatsoever if he is keeping the so-called love of his life away from her. She has to meet the girl at the wedding with everybody else there to watch for a possible catfight – she hoped that most of the Amis would at least put their money on her, because she definitely has more than a few tricks up her sleeve, ones that the pampered bitch Cosette probably has never even heard of. If she had to face the bitch in combat, she would win.

"He probably wanted to keep you around as a back-up option," he is cruel.

That is one of the cruelest things that anyone has ever said to her. She is better than that; she is better than being anyone's second choice, and that is why Marius needs to figure out that he has been oblivious for far too long. She has figured that he simply does not know how she feels about him, and that is why he has never returned her feelings – because he would never leave her pining after him on purpose because he never bothered to reject her. Marius would never reject her. He just does not know.

"Marius is not like that," she bites out, jaw clenched in anger.

"I'm sure," suddenly Enjolras is being sarcastic as all hell.

How can he even think these things of his friend? Mister high and mighty Enjolras would never stand for bad behavior from anyone, let alone from one of his friends. It is not just that Marius is completely different from the kind of person that he is currently describing, it is also that it bothers her that Enjolras would be the kind of person to just let that behavior go and lie to his friend about appreciating him. Has he been faking being a friend to Marius for all these years? Has he seen bad things in Marius?

"What is that sarcasm supposed to mean?" she turns to look at him.

"You won't want to hear it," now he is a patronizing piece of shit all of a sudden, and that pisses her off even more, "but okay. He's been a crap friend to you for years, and you've always been there for him but when you need someone, he is nowhere to be found for some reason. If he needed a bride, you would have come running."

Yes, it is true that if Marius had not found someone before her birthday, she would have stuck to her promise and she would gladly have married him. She would still gladly marry him, after making him sweat for a little while about that tramp Cosette.

"How would you even know?" she is more than a bit skeptical of him.

"Because I look after my friends," his is definitely a noble sentiment.

It sounds well enough until she thinks again on Marius and Enjolras' claim to be friends with him as well. Why would he say that he looks after his friends when he is saying terrible things about Marius and choosing her side over his? They are not close in any way, and he should be happy for Marius and that girl he is banging.

"We're not friends," she chooses to deny their association.

"I asked Marius about you sometimes," he reveals. "He could never tell me anything new about you. Your dear Grant was a better source of info and he's drunk most of the time."

True, Grant does have a bit of a problem with alcohol, but he is working hard on doing better and getting sober. And he is doing that by himself, without very much help, which pretty much makes him the best man she knows at the moment.

"Grant is one of the best people in the world," she has to defend her friend.

R Grant is not the kind of guy that most people understand, but he is the kind of guy that people come to when they need to have a fun night to get them through whatever is going on at that moment – and he is always there for them, no matter what is going on in his own life. He is a very loyal friend, and she has always admired that about him.

"He's a good guy," at least Enjolras can say that much about him.

"He's in love with you," she has to ruin every illusion he has ever had about that.

This thing was told to her in confidence by R himself, but she knows that Enjolras has to know that or they will never be able to move on from this. He needs to know in order for the friendship between the two guys to work. Enjolras is too blunt not to know; he could really hurt R's feelings if something ever happened to screw up the balance. Now he will actually pay more attention to how R is feeling about things.

"Still?" his world seems to have turned upside down. "He is bringing a date."

Having a date with someone does not mean that you have gotten over the person who came before, especially when this person is an old friend. She has been on dates herself, but she has not deluded herself into thinking that this means that she is over Marius and can move on. She doubts if she will ever be able to move on from him.

"He's trying to get over you," she explains the finer points behind this.

"That's good," he breathes a sigh of relief. "He deserves a good person in his life."

Enjolras appears to be more broken up about this than she had imagined he would be when she pictured herself telling him about R's feelings. She figured that he would take in the information and then move on like the robot that she has always imagined him to be. She has heard him being called 'the marble man' and she has always understood that this meant that he never showed any feelings – his only love is justice and that is the only time in which he is even remotely passionate.

Still, these last few days have changed her perspective a bit.

"How can you both be a dick and a noble guy at the same time?" she does not get it.

"It comes as natural as breathing," his voice is breaking. "I'm a lawyer. Remember?"

He is hard on himself now, and she made that happen just by telling him something that R should have told him years ago – the typical men's mentality probably stopped them from having any kind of serious heart to heart about this situation. Enjolras now has absolutely no idea how to deal with this, and for all of the nice words that he has been taught; he has nothing real to say now, only platitudes and learned phrases.

"It comes with the territory," she jokes lightly. "I should have known."

There is another flinch that she barely catches, and that actually hurts a little.

"When I was in law school, they tried to make us stop being nice completely," he shrugs.

Even though she thinks that he is almost emotionless – or at least that he shows next to no emotions – she knows that he is still a good person underneath his façade of this perfect marble lawyer man. He is passionate about justice and making things right, and while they probably tried to change that in law school, he stayed who he is.

"They did not quite succeed completely," she makes sure to tell him that.

"I like to remind them of that," he wears a big smile now, leaning back in his chair.

Here the mysterious Enjolras is revealing that there is yet another layer to him, and she really wants to find out what that means for him and for her.

All of the talking has managed to distract him from the plane's takeoff and they are now at a height of about 30,000 feet and going fast. Every second is taking them closer.

"How?" the mysterious air he now projects only makes her more curious.

"By helping the poor and the downtrodden," he leans closer to get the desired dramatic effect, "defending widows, small children, and lost animals. Blah blah, woof woof."

She vaguely remembers hearing these words before, which means that he is actually referencing something – which is something she never expected of him, especially not something that does not sound like it was originally written in Latin or something that talks about politics and/or philosophy. This sounds like pop culture.

"Now I really need a drink," she rolls her eyes at his words.

His stupid comment makes her feel stupid and pitied, and it makes her think of the times when she and Marius had movie marathons that lasted a week with only the shortest breaks for sleep and the bathroom. They have not done that in a long time.

"You're going to get drunk, aren't you?" he is definitely not happy now.

"Just watch me," she promises, getting ready to get a hold of a flight attendant.

Those are pretty famous last words.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

"He is going to eat his words," she grounds her peanuts into fine dust with a relish that scares some people. "He is going to leave the tramp without another look."

Yes, at this point some of the other passengers in first class are looking at her with at least some trepidation – which means that she is doing well. Several empty bottles of booze have been removed from her tray table and she has a nice buzz going on that makes her anger burn brighter and makes her pain feel less sharp. And the fact that Enjolras disapproves of the drinking makes it an even better decision.

"Calm down, Éponine," Mister Nice Guy has to admonish her again.

"I'm not calming down," she holds her head up. "I'm planning. I'm making evil plans."

The notebook on her lap has not been filled yet, but she has started to write down a few ideas that she can work with in the few weeks before the wedding. Every single time her pen touches paper Enjolras starts to frown more, so her pen is on paper all of the time, even though most of what she writes is either nonsense or doodles.

"You can do that quietly," he looks at her pointedly.

"Of course not," she raises her voice again just to be annoying.

It gets her a few more frustrated looks, but she does not care about that. Nobody gives a flying fuck about her feelings, so why should she care about other people's feelings? It is the stupidest kind of reasoning, the kind she always warns the students against using when school is in session, but right now she's on the worst vacation of her life and she can do whatever the hell she wants, and so she is going to do just that.

"I knew you would say that," he shakes his head. "But since you probably do not want to end up on the No Fly list for the rest of your life, I think you should calm down."

Okay, he is making this a lot more dramatic than it actually is, and she hates it.

"Since when are you such a drama queen?" she is getting more and more annoyed.

"I am not a drama queen," he apparently resents her implication enough to get all stupidly huffy with her and that makes it worse, "I am just concerned, and I have been concerned ever since the stewardesses started looking angry and having whispered conversations while pointing at you. I can help you, but you have to calm down."

At this point, she is ready to pout and stomp her feet like she is a two-year-old throwing an epic temper tantrum – she used to have those a lot when she was really young and her parents still had enough money to oblige her and enough patience to keep from slapping or hitting her. She is sure that Enjolras has plenty of patience, so she can risk trying it again – only there is not even a hint of a real response on his side.

"Ugh, you are such a buzz kill," she groans, looking at the notebook again.

There has been no new line written since she last checked, which is pretty obvious since she is the only person having any ideas about this, when he is supposed to help her as any decent partner in crime would. But no, he is too busy moralizing.

"That is not the first time someone has told me that," he does not seem fazed.

Of course he would have been told that before; he is pretty much known as Major Buzz Kill by most, if not all, of the Amis. He is the one with a reasonable response to just about everything, even when the plans being made are just for fun. There is just always another reason not to do it coming from his lips – she has heard R whine about this way too often for her not to understand how he always felt when that happened.

"Just help me make Cosette very sorry she ever met him," her vindictive side is showing.

That might sound a bit too cruel for most people to go along with, but that is definitely the way that she is feeling at this point – she wants her life to go back to what it was before Marius decided he would rather marry some strange blonde bimbo rather than his best friend of almost twenty years. And for that to happen, Cosette needs to leave.

"I'd prefer to make Marius sorry that he ever slighted you," his tone is darker as well.

"That idea sort of works for me," she grins at him, happy to finally have his help.

Marius just has to see that she is the better option for him, and then he will have to beg on his bare knees to get her to forgive him – and he owes her several dozen orgasms for all of the lonely nights she waited for him. If Enjolras can help her accomplish that, she is going to do whatever he wants for a whole fucking month and maybe solve every single problem that he has ever had. She might even get him laid!

"He needs to see what he is missing," she gets a smile from him in return.

At least Enjolras sees that Marius is definitely missing out on her, and that makes her feel even better – the alcohol is starting to seem less necessary at this point. Still, she cannot help but raise her voice and act more than a little embarrassing.

"That is why I brought the red dress," she gives him a sultry look and watches him blush because he does not know how to respond to something like that.

"I am flattered," he is still blushing. "Are you intent on playing my date?"

Flustering the great Gabriel Enjolras daily is going to be a new main activity for her – and she is going to continue doing that for the rest of her life because this is just never going to get old. She can see why it appeals to R so much; she definitely can. His cheeks turn a bit red, but the back of his neck is just flaming and apparently very itchy, because he cannot stop scratching at it. He also cannot look her in the eyes any longer.

"I am going to be the love of your fucking life," she feels like shouting it out. "You are not going to be able to keep your hands off me – and that is an order."

That makes her consider his hands and his long fingers in a whole new light. Objectively speaking, he has really nice hands for things like sex, and his fingers will hopefully curl enough to make a girl see stars – not that she is considering trying him out, because that would definitely keep Marius from believing their story and from ever taking her back if he found out about it. Also, Enjolras would have to be taught from scratch. Ugh.

"And you think Marius will believe that?" he turns into a skeptic again.

"We are damn well going to make him believe it," she shouts again.

Her gestures have gotten progressively more dramatic as well, but she cannot seem to find a problem with that – except for that her own voice is starting to give her a headache, but she cannot decide if that is because of her voice or because of the alcohol.

"Ma'am, if you could please lower your voice," there is a flight attendant next to her. "You are disturbing some of the other passengers on this flight."

Of course the lady is using her stern voice when she has just started getting the first hints of a headache – and she usually handles alcohol so very well, but she does not drink that often during the school year and now she is really paying for her extremely well thought-out decision. Her students are smart enough to get into all of the bars, and she really does not want to be found blackout drunk by one of her students.

She really should be starting to suck up to the nice flight attendant lady.

"I do apologize for my friend's loudness," Enjolras is trying to get the attendant wrapped around his finger by being charming, "but she has just gotten some very upsetting news. You see, the love of her life has just announced that he is marrying someone else, when he promised her that they would be married this year. She's heartbroken."

There is a faked sniffle from her – she learned that trick before she could read – and the woman is right along with them on the being angry with Marius train. She is considering asking the woman to help her think of some more lovely plans, but she thinks that that might be going too far, and she would not want to do that anymore than she already has.

"That's terribly rude of him," she gets a pitying look from the other woman.

"Really, we are intent on making him see how wrong he has been," Enjolras goes on to explain at least some part of their epic plan. "They have been friends since childhood and he just ruined a twenty-year friendship for some tart."

He actually called Cosette a tart – that definitely makes her day! It is a little bit too old-fashioned of an insult for her tastes, but she definitely likes that Enjolras is playing up the sympathy card and that he is finally starting to see the Cosette issue her way. She needs him on her side, because he is pretty much the most intelligent guy she knows, and she can always use a guy like that on her side. This should be good.

"Damn right you should make him pay," the woman across the aisle speaks up.

She is actually getting support from this strange woman, who has probably only heard Enjolras explaining her situation succinctly and eloquently.

"You should jump out of the cake at his bachelor party," a teenage girl shouts.

That suggestion is probably the best thing she has ever heard, because the mere idea of it makes her burst out in the deep kind of laughter that is probably too embarrassing for public places – because she has the tendency to snort. Still, she is laughing loudly because she is trying to picture the reactions she would get to that stunt, and the mental pictures she is getting make her a very happy woman.

"I kind of love you," she shouts back at the girl, grinning happily.

"I kind of want to be there," Enjolras is already picturing the mayhem that would ensue.

The fact that he is actually going along with this suggestion once again proves that he is much more devious than anyone would ever give him credit for – which shows several traits that she likes in an accomplice. He is more subtle than she will ever be and people will always continue to think that he does not have a mischievous bone in his body, when in fact, between the two of them, he is probably the evil genius.

"Of course you will be there," she pats his shoulder. "You're my accomplice."

He does not even flinch at the contact, which makes her happy. If they are ever going to completely fake being a couple he should be comfortable with her. She is going to try to build up his tolerance for her touches on this flight. That is a good plan.

"I prefer the term partner in crime," he twirls an imaginary mustache.

"That is very criminal of you, love," she blows him a kiss.

As she leans in closer to him, intent on pecking him on the cheek, he is quick to turn away with his chair – he is trying to increase the distance between them.

"Please do not do that, Éponine," he shakes his head, and she sighs.

How are they ever going to fool Marius now?

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e

When the doors finally open and they are ready to get off the plane, she looks at her list in the notebook again, happy to see it filling several pages.

"Thank you so much," she calls out to the Parker siblings as they walk away.

"That is a long list," Enjolras is looking over her shoulder.

She has gotten so many wonderful suggestions from so many wonderful women on this flight that most of the men either got really uncomfortable or started making phone calls to their wives or girlfriends apologizing for some tiny, stupid mistake they made.

"I'm very happy with it," she places the notebook in her bag with care.

There is no way to tell for sure, but she believes that he is mighty impressed with all of the things that she has managed to gather for her list, even though she did not have to think of all of these things herself. She has gotten a lot of help, which definitely makes the endeavor a bit easier for her and her skeptical partner in crime.

"I cannot believe all of those people helped you plan this," he still does not get it.

"Hell hath no fury like all of these women scorned," she understands this special power.

While most news stories about the female sex feature all of the mean girls in the world, she has now found out that women will be solidary if another woman has her heart broken in any kind of way. When she worked as a waitress in college, she definitely helped some girl who had just been broken up with at their restaurant – some men are enough of an asshole to dump someone in a very public place.

"I can see that," 'Jolras points at the list again, at a very – creative – point.

That one in particular, coming from the nice old lady with the sweet smile, was a lovely surprise. She did not see it coming, but that does not mean that she is not very happy with the lady's suggestions – she hopes to try several of them.

"Don't piss me off," she warns with a teasing smile.

"I won't piss you off on purpose," he cleverly avoids any false promises.

Of course he would have learned in that fancy law school of his to never promise anyone anything that he cannot make true – and he would never be able to keep a promise to never piss her off. It is not as if she is easily pissed off, but she has some hidden triggers that he could hit without even knowing it and completely alienate her forever.

"There's that typical lawyer use of words," she mockingly bows for him.

"I guess that they taught me well after all," he is trying not to sound bitter.

They are now at baggage claim, waiting for all of their crap to come rolling in. They both have a humongous suitcase and the bags that they are already carrying that were allowed onto the plane. Whichever cabbie is going to be fortunate enough to take the both of them to the house is going to need room for junk in the trunk. According to Marius, there will be plenty of room for both her and her date and all of their stuff in their room. She's going to assume that he forgot the plural s at the end.

Actually, she is hoping that he forgot the s, because things could get awkward.

"What do you think about the plans, partner in crime?" she teases.

"I rather like some of them," he seems pretty surprised at his own words.

She is most definitely not surprised, because she knows that there is mischievousness and deviousness in him that he does not even know of himself. There are many hidden depths to him, and if she were interested in anything other than getting Marius back, she would probably go spelunking in that cave – if you know what she means.

"I brought some nice underwear," she ponders, "so I can definitely jump out of the cake."

This particular set is not red – though she brought some lovely red sets to wear for her pretend date, since it is his favorite color and a good girlfriend or date would get the right color underwear for a trip such as this one – it is all in the details.

"And I will be there to prevent anything odd from happening," he is trying to be the good guy and announce his intention to take care of her, but he gets it wrong.

It is really sweet that he is worried about things happening to her at a bachelor party, even though he must know that she is a strong woman who can take care of herself in just about every situation. She has absolutely no problems with defending herself, and she knows that most of the guys present at that party will be too distracted either by the booze of by her lack of clothing to do anything really hinky.

"You do know that odd things tend to happen at a bachelor party?" she asks him.

"I've never been to a bachelor party before," he then confesses something unsurprising.

Oh, wow, that is like the most surprising thing that she has ever heard him say – only really not, because he is just about the last guy she would expect to be having fun at a bachelor party. Also, since Marius is the first person in their group of friends to be getting married, he never had the opportunity to be present at one.

She has been to many a bachelor party – and she wasn't even in the cake every time.

"Shocker," she curls her thumb and her ring finger and gestures at him.

"I should not know what that references," he turns red.

Now that is an actual surprise; him actually knowing what that gesture stands for without her telling him. And she succeeded once again in making him blush.

"I actually figured that you wouldn't know," she laughs loudly.

At what moment in his undoubtedly sheltered life did he learn anything about dirty hand gestures? She is sort of curious about that, as she is now picturing some kind of all-boys boarding school scenario that is just off with what she knows about him.

"Well, R is very thorough when it comes to embarrassing me," he admits.

"Yeah, that was the other option," she nods. "Either you didn't know, or R told you."

R knowing this type of things is not that much of a surprise at all. If anything, she could still learn a few immature things from R – and she is the person who spends most of her year with the most immature teenagers in the county. Most of these teenagers have little respect for her, at least when they come into her office, and she still manages to deal with them – while occasionally learning some dirty new vocabulary.

"Well, it was door number two," he still looks embarrassed.

He is quickly distracted from his embarrassment by her spotting his bag rolling towards them and pointing it out to him without using words. He does not particularly seem to want to speak to her at this point, so they need to move on a bit.

"Are there any other plans that you feel like being a part of?" she changes the subject.

"You can just tell me when you need me," he shrugs, yanking his bag onto the floor.

They are now both waiting for her suitcase to come by, and they will both recognize it when it does come by – because it the brightest red she could find. Fine, she will admit that she liked the color red long before she found out that it is his favorite color. To be honest, it is pretty much her favorite color to. Also, she likes the color blue.

"Aren't you going to be an active participant in this?" that frustrates her.

"Of course I am going to help with everything," he raises his voice slightly.

It is just not sounding like he will be of very much help, and her buzz is now definitely gone so she is a lot less tolerant towards his stupid mood swings.

"Then tell me: what is your plan?" she sees a hint of red in the corner of her eye.

"I just want Marius to see that he cannot treat you like that," he romanticizes.

Marius really does not treat her that badly. They have just lost touch a little since college, but their promise was still valid so she could still wait for that. She sent him a text a month before getting the evil invitation just to remind him that he was twenty-eight and she was almost there too. She asked him if he remembered their pact – he even replied to tell her that he did remember. Though he did not promise again that time.

Her suitcase is yanked onto the floor so hard that she might have broken something.

"You're a weird one," she has to state the obvious at this point, because she still does not understand him. "You care too much about things being right with the world."

They head towards the exit together, looking every bit the tired couple arguing because the vacation already is different from what they had planned. Still, she thinks that no matter what the people watching them might think, she could eventually form a friendship with Enjolras that might last the years. They are way too different for this to work, but somehow she is already growing fond of his brand of strangeness.

"More people should care about that," he is ready to get on a soapbox.

"People have their own problems, 'Jolras," at this point she is almost fond of his tendency to want the best for people even when they do not ask for it. "They have more important things to deal with than your equality and your righteousness and justice."

Some people are more worried about having enough food to last them the week, or more worried about how they are ever going to get enough money for rent, or worried about if their parents are still hitting her siblings, and – fuck. She might be taking this a bit too personally, but she is never going to tell him about that. Equality and justice can be luxury goods in some homes, and she knows that all too well.

Sometimes all she wanted to was live through the day or night.

"But these things should matter to them," his voice cracks a little.

"Maybe they need someone like you to care about these things for them," she offers.

Way back when, when her parents lost the hotel and they had to move away or risk facing criminal charges, she could have used someone looking out for the welfare of her siblings – she took care of herself even back then. Sometimes she thinks that she can still use someone like Enjolras looking out for her – when Marius is not around.

She refuses to ask him, because she is an independent woman who takes care of herself.

"We could always order Marius a hooker," he ends the silence.

"I like the way you think," she laughs loudly, as they finally get to the long line of taxis at the curb. "You're more devious than people give you credit for."

There is a young cabdriver eyeing her in such a creepy way that she wants to take a step back behind Enjolras and let him freak the guy out – he can start playing her hot date early, if he has no problems with that. When Enjolras goes right to a different taxi and pretends the creep does not even exist, she knows that he noticed how awkward she felt and acted on it without making her feel weak. That makes her feel better.

"That always seems to surprise people," he helps her lug her suitcase as well as his.

"I kind of like it," she makes sure to tell him that truth.

He helps the cabbie put their suitcases in the back, while she watches and attempts to figure out who he is – because somehow she still barely knows.

"That is good, because you need deviousness in your partner in crime," he grins.

He actually holds the door of the cab open for her, as if he is some Victorian Era gentleman who got stuck in the wrong time period. No one ever does that kind of thing for her, and she is not sure if she even likes him doing that for her, because even though it is a simple gesture that has no meaning for her self-sufficiency, she still feels unsure about him needing to do that. She feels off balance somehow.

"I need more than deviousness," she whispers softly, climbing into the cab.

She might need more of him.

AN: This chapter is really long. I know. This was a lot of time writing, so I hope you all appreciate it =P.


	4. Chapter Three

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: This fic is all of my own making, but the characters are Victor Hugo's.

AN: So, here comes Marius! And Cosette! And some lovely awkwardness to ease your minds when the world is dark and terrible. Be safe everyone!

Chapter three: Liars and Fools

The door opens and there he is – the love of her life. She finally sees Marius again after a very long time, and the only downside to this is the voluptuous blonde standing next to him with a bland smile on her face. The fact that she looks vaguely familiar can be written off by her resemblance to every girlfriend Marius ever had.

At least the idiot is consistent in his type.

"Marius," she goes in for a hug, as is custom with the two of them.

"Eppie," the way he hugs her back is more distant than before, and that hurts.

His stupid fiancée appears to be eyeing her every move, because apparently all she has to do to be considered a threat to the relationship is to hug her best friend. Sure, she is indeed planning to screw up the wedding, but she doubts that she is telegraphing her intentions so clearly. The fiancée has an obvious jealous streak, and she can definitely exploit that into Marius needing to choose again. He chose her the last time, and there is no reason why he will not choose her again – she is his oldest friend after all.

Still, she wants a real hug from Marius, not this farce.

"I cannot believe that you still call me that," she pretends to be ultra amused by the old nickname to hide the pain. "It's been years since people called me Eppie. Not since…"

Not since when they were still innocent children. Marius is the only one who never stopped calling her Eppie, and that is something she has always held on to.

"Miss Gardiner's class," she and Marius speak simultaneously.

She was the favorite teacher for just a few students, but she loved Miss Gardiner like she never loved another teacher after her – Miss Gardiner was the only teacher who noticed that her home life was more bad than merely different. Still, nothing changed.

"Was it fourth or fifth grade?" Marius cannot quite remember.

"It was fourth grade," she knows it all too well. "Mrs. D was in fifth grade."

If there was ever a terrible and rude teacher, it was Mrs. D. That woman hated everything that did not fit into her idea of the perfect little world – and even as a kid, she never bothered too much with fitting in with anyone. Just being a good person was enough of a challenge with parents like hers teaching her all about gray areas before she even figured out what these teachings meant. She was always meant to be different.

"Right," Marius nods, and then motions to the blonde standing beside him. "Eppie, meet my Cosette. Cosette, dear, meet my old friend Éponine."

Cosette is just the kind of beautiful young woman that she could never be, with perfect golden hair and cornflower blue eyes and skin in a pale shade that is usually only found in children's dolls. She is basically everything that she herself is not: cultured where she is brash, graceful ballerina where she has always been a tomboy. She is not sure how this could hurt more than it already does. Does Marius like her so little?

"Nice to meet you," she puts a fake smile on her face for Marius' sake.

"Éponine Thénardier?" the blonde is eyeing her like she is dirt underneath a shoe.

Obviously this has something to do with her parents, because there is no way that she herself harmed this girl that she has never even met.

"Yep, that's me," she figures that she might as well own up to her name.

"Do you remember me?" comes the next crazy question from this Cosette.

Did Marius date her once before? She does not remember a Cosette ever being mentioned before, but maybe the girl went by a nickname or something. Only Marius does not seem to think that she should know this girl, so there must be some other reason why this girl seems to know her. Were they in a college class together maybe?

"Should I?" she looks the girl over, not seeing anything that would help her remember.

With a look to 'Jolras, who also does not seem to know what Cosette is talking about, she shrugs and waits for the bomb to burst. She has no idea what is going on.

"Your parents took me in when I was young," the woman bites at her.

Her parents never took in a girl named Cosette. They took in Peter and Jack only. But wait, before Peter and Jack they had this girl living with them that she cannot quite remember – but the girl's name was not Cosette. Her name was -

"Lark?" she blurts out, stunned at the coincidence.

"That has never been my name," Cosette is not happy to be remembered.

"That's what my parents said I should call you," she shrugs, not knowing what to say.

Back then she was still her Daddy's little girl, and she still did whatever Mommy and Daddy told her to do. Her parents were still members of local high society back then, and they were respected everywhere they went – so why not listen to them? Also, she was just a little girl and little girls usually listen to their parents.

"Your parents are terrible people," that is nothing new to her.

"You will get no disagreement there," she pretends to be careless about this.

She is not a little girl any longer, and she can say without hesitation that her parents are terrible people and that she hates them for what should have been a carefree childhood but ended up being a harsh lesson in how the world works.

"Do you two know each other?" Marius is once again the last to figure it out.

"Before I met you," she stammers, "before we moved… My parents occasionally took in kids, provided that the parents could pay them enough money."

It was all about the money in those days – the days after the hotel was gone.

"I was one of those kids," Cosette continues the explanation she started.

"You were one of three," she feels like adding. "Peter and Jack came after you."

The names seem to ring a bell with Marius, and the pained look on his face tells her that he remembers exactly what happened to Peter and Jack. Enjolras just looks confused, but she is not in the mood to care about his feelings about this.

"Can we just not talk about this any longer?" she demands. "K, thanks."

This whole charade is terrible enough without the walk down memory lane with the walking reminder that she is never going to be good enough. How can she still be so fucking insecure about this after all of these years? Should she not have grown out of this already? She should be better than this, damn it.

"How can I not know?" Marius is not happy that Cosette did not tell him this before.

"I hated it there," Cosette replies vindictively.

"That makes two of us," she bites back, hoping her voice does not crack.

It does not, so she at least has that. But apparently even Enjolras has picked up on the pain and awkwardness, and he sees a chance to play up their act. His eyes ask permission, and she tries to nod imperceptibly – he can go for it for all she cares. What she does not expect is for him to simply tuck her into his arms as he comes to stand behind her. She is warmer and feels safer, and she tries to be comfortable as well.

While it does not make the pain go away, it does make her remember she is not alone, and that is something that she really needs to remember at this point.

"Marius, I'm sure you remember 'Jolras," she grins at the surprised looks.

"Of course I do," he sticks his tongue out at her. "How have you been?"

Sure, while Cosette seems surprised at this latest development, Marius seems completely focused on seeing his college friend again. He is not noticing that this college friend is currently practically wrapped around his best friend of twenty years in a way that would be hard to see as completely platonic. This should be good.

"Busy," Enjolras appears to be waiting for him to get it.

"But I got him to come to these weeks of debauchery, using my feminine wiles," she decides to just go for it, seeing as Marius can be rather dense.

There is an exaggerated wink aimed at Enjolras, as she attempts to face him during her little speech without disturbing their perfect tableau too much. Enjolras appears to be trying to hide laughter as he sees Marius slowly losing his mind over this.

"What?" Marius sputters, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets. "Are you two-?"

Are they – going at it behind closed doors? Are they bunk buddies? Are they doing the nasty, making the beast with two backs, fucking? He needs to finish his sentence.

"He's my date," she continues to be a bit evasive with her answers.

Marius can make of that what he will, and everything can still be left open for interpretation by everyone – and she did not even have to lie all that much, which is always a big bonus for her. When everything comes out – after Marius has ditched stupid Cosette – she will just tell him that he was the one who interpreted the relationship between her and Enjolras as romantic, and that they just went with it to see if he would believe them. Or something. She will have thought of something by then.

"I thought you'd be immune to her feminine wiles, Enjolras," Marius turns to 'Jolras.

"It turns out that not even I can be immune to Ponine when she turns up the charm," the response that he gets from Enjolras is just really fucking beautiful.

The wonderful creature that is her partner in crime just played up her feminine wiles without needing even the slightest bit of coaching from her. He even used a nickname, implying that there is a kind of intimacy between the two of them that Marius would not know of. Yes, Enjolras is actually more than kind of brilliant.

"You have changed, my friend," Marius nods sagely.

No shit, Sherlock, is all that she wants to say to that. It has been a long time since the two friends last saw each other, and just about anything could have happened during that time. Even the most set in their ways people change – or at least, that is what they want Marius to believe. He has to believe it for their ploy to work.

Still, during their conversation about their wonderful relationship all of the attention was on the two of them, as even Marius seemed to forget Cosette was even there – and now the woman in question is not amused. She huffs and tries to get their attention, and mostly just succeeds in annoying her and making Enjolras respond with some more of his wonderful theatrics. She is mentally preparing for the fall-out.

"Apologies, mademoiselle," he lets his arms fall and makes a mock bow for Cosette. "I am Enjolras. I went to college with Marius once upon a time."

He acts as if that was so very long ago, while she still feels like she remembers college well enough for it to have happened just yesterday – even though they all graduated college six years ago. Enjolras and Marius went back for law school after, making them only three years out of school to her six. She kind of wants to tease the both of them about that to see how they would respond to it, but she is distracted by the remaining frown on Cosette's face. Yeah, she is probably never going to like her.

"Is that your first or your last name?" Cosette is not satisfied with that name.

"It is what I prefer to be called," his tone is closed off and distant again.

She really wonders what the story behind all of this is, but she also knows that trying to get Enjolras to reveal anything is pretty close to impossible. He is closed off from everyone, even his pretend girlfriend or date. Still, if she wants to be a convincing date, she is going to have to give it a try – even though he will hate it.

"Oh, come off it, lover," she plays up the romance aspect again.

There is a pout on her lips that is supposed to entice a man to kiss it away – and she thinks that it might even have worked if the guy she was trying it on was anyone other than the Marble Man. Still, she is not even doing this as any kind of real seduction attempt; she just hopes to distract him from whatever demons make it impossible for him to talk about his full name. She only aims to make him smile.

"You will have to do better than that," the corners of his mouth turn up.

"There are many things that I can promise you as a reward," she dangles the fake bait in front of him like the proverbial carrot. "You will like these things."

That will definitely put some rather interesting mental pictures in the minds of both Marius and Cosette, which is what they are both aiming for at the moment.

"Maybe later," the deadpan tone in Enjolras' voice is only obvious to her.

At least he seems to be amused again, which was a big part of her current goal. When they are alone again, she is going to have to talk to him about how easy it is to fool Marius with this – she had never expected him to believe it so easily, with just a few jokes about their relationship and a dramatic hug. 'Jolras is actually having fun.

"Is that a promise?" there is a saucy wink aimed in his direction.

"Cross my heart," he even makes the appropriate gesture in response.

He looks like an overgrown boy scout now, even though the curls throw off that mental picture a little. She likes him better when he is casual, not wearing one of his stupid work suits – he is more approachable like he is now, wearing casual slacks and a shirt that is not completely buttoned. She is actually hoping to get him in jeans and a t-shirt at some point, because she fully believes that he could be a lady magnet in that kind of outfit. She foresees some panties being thrown at him in the future.

These panties may or not be hers – she has a pathological need to mess with him.

"Marius did not tell me that you were together," looks like Marius is going to be sleeping on the couch. "Now I have to change the seating chart again. I just got it finished."

Helping Cosette with this would give her another opportunity to dole out some more subtle stings to the other woman, and she knows that she has to take that chance when it is offered to her on something that closely resembles a silver platter. There are so many hijinks that would go over easier with the perfect seating chart.

"I can help," she offers innocently. "Over the years, I have met most, if not all, of Marius' friends. I know which people you should seat together and which people you should keep apart. See, you must seat as many of the Amis together as you possibly can!"

That is the best start on wreaking any kind of havoc at that wedding: getting as much pranksters together at one table as they possibly can. Just seating her next to R will provide them with enough fodder for greatness to last hours.

"The Amis?" now Cosette just looks confused. "Who are they?"

Oh wow, now it just looks like Marius has been keeping secrets from his beloved Cosette, and that just makes her a very happy girl. She did not even have to do anything for this part, because Marius is already sabotaging his own relationship without even knowing that he is doing it. Cosette is not happy that she does not know some important things about him and his past – which makes her want to giggle, because it is obvious that Cosette has not told Marius everything either. They are both secretive hypocrites, and that will probably prove to be their undoing. That and her manipulation skills.

"You don't know?" she makes sure to emphasize that. "They are the old group from college. 'Jolras is also a part of the group. They are all absolutely hilarious."

There simply are not enough words to perfectly describe these guys and their continued need for hilarity, pranks, and jokes. They have the worst convoluted plans that they try to keep secret from 'Jolras and/or Marius, and that always somehow leads to them being found in an embarrassing situation by the men in question. She has caught them a few times, but they always try to include her in their plans.

"Grant is coming," Marius seems happy about that, "and he is bringing a date, so he should be subdued enough. We should not put him next to Eppie, though."

That is a part of her plan that she was not expecting to fall through. The old Marius was always so terribly amused at the jokes she and R would pull – even though he was often the victim of these jokes. Is this Marius pretending to be a real grown up?

"Why not?" she is offended at this. "I adore R."

"You two always cause such trouble when you're together," Marius wags a finger at her jokingly. "And he might hurt you for taking Enjolras away from him."

For fuck's sake Marius, this is not the time to be joking about something like that, especially not with 'Jolras right there and looking positively ill at the implication that everyone knew about this but him. She is now, more than ever, glad that she chose to tell him about it before someone else tried to tell it to him in a stupid joke.

"For the love of…," Enjolras does not appreciate being hit below the belt.

"Just leave it, Marius," she immediately bites back. "He already knows."

She never snaps at Marius like that – or at least, she has never really done so before, and especially not for another man. It could be a wake up call for Marius, but at this moment the wounded look that 'Jolras has on his face seems a lot more important than Marius ending his obliviousness. Her partner in crime is uncomfortable and he should not be, because he has given R his explanation about why he does not feel the same way, and still people continue to remind him of it. Also, it is just disrespectful to R's attempts to move on from his feelings. R is actually just the original badass.

"Should you not take my side in this, Eppie, for old times' sake?" Marius makes puppy eyes at her in the same way that used to make her melt all of the time.

"I guess that does not mean so much anymore," she says. "Besides, I'm with 'Jolras."

Marius was the one who made their friendship feel like a stupid afterthought, and now she is just following his lead like she always did when they were kids. Only she is not just following a lead, she is being proactive and standing up for her new friend.

"I would make her sleep on the couch," her date sounds completely serious.

"I thought only women could do that," Cosette falls for it.

Not only is that idea pretty sexist, it is just hilarious to her that not only would Enjolras try the joke but he would succeed because Cosette lacks the innate ability to tell when someone is joking or when they are definitely being serious. Then again, as a lawyer Enjolras needs a damn good poker face, and he has pretty much perfected it when he was the unofficial leader of the Amis. They never got his humor – and neither did she, at that time – but she thinks that the times have changed now.

"Your deadpan look is still pretty good, lover," she laughs softly and carefully.

"I have had practice," he is obviously referring to his time with the Amis.

This is making her regret all of those times that she thought he was a stick in the mud when the Amis went out to do something – because she undoubtedly missed some subtle part of his wonderfully devious sense of humor.

"It is too bad that I do not take you seriously when you are like this?" she ponders.

"I like that about you," he grins at her, and it is breathtaking.

Now she is not quite sure whether these things that they are saying are a part of the ruse or whether they are a real affirmation of their new friendship. She now indeed knows not to take him so seriously all of the time, especially not when he is masterfully messing with Marius and his new fiancée. Sure, as his date and/or girlfriend she would have already known that, but as his new friend she now knows that as well.

"Wait, there are times when the great Enjolras is not serious?" Marius mocks.

"He is quite playful in bed," she just has to go there.

The thing is, she imagines that the moment when he finally realizes that he is actually attracted to a lucky man or woman – she will never define his sexuality even in a hypothetical situation – will actually reveal that he can indeed be a very playful guy with this lucky person. Once you get his sense of humor, he is fucking hilarious and she has no reason to believe that this would not translate to the bedroom or whatever room he and his significant other choose. And now she is going to stop imagining.

"And that is more than I ever wanted to know about that," Marius is not amused.

Well, she knows more than she ever wanted to know about his ex-girlfriends and their qualities – or their lack of them – in the bedroom or coatroom. This is not even payback for that, this is important for Enjolras' reputation, because when they finally fake a break-up, she thinks that his lack of experience will be seen as the reason. She is perfectly okay with leaving the cause of their fake-up completely on her shoulders.

"It is good to hear that I make you happy," the word happy gets a pointed emphasis.

"Very much so," there is another wink in it for him for that beautiful pun.

Due to her love for Buffy in her teenage years, she is very aware that the word happy can have many interesting connotations, and she is willing to use all of them and happy to find out that he knows it as well and is willing to go along with her.

"You two are just too weird together," her old friend shakes his head.

"What makes you think it is weird?" she just has to ask that question.

"Besides Enjolras here saying that his true love is Patria?" Marius raises a good point.

Yeah, there is definitely nothing that she is going to be able to say about that – at least, nothing that will be really convincing. If they want to make people buy their story, 'Jolras has to go on the record to say that his opinions on the subject has changed, and even then they have to think of a really good reason for the two of them to connect in a more than platonic way. She has no ideas on the subject, and that is just plain bad.

"My judgment might have been a bit hasty in saying that," Enjolras has to lie.

"Cosette, just pinch me," Marius holds out his arm dramatically, looking at his stunned fiancée. "I think Enjolras just admitted he was wrong about something."

Yeah, so while Marius is pretending to have changed in some aspects, she can still see the insecure little boy in him when he loses all maturity and acts like a tool. He always does that when something surprises him, but she figured he would get over that.

"Stop making fun of him," she has had it with Marius' douchebag behavior.

At this point, she is done with letting this happen – especially when it involves 'Jolras – and she is going to start calling him on it. Cosette should be the one doing that, but she is pointedly standing to the side and waiting for the three of them to deal with this without as much as a word from her. Wow, she really does not like her at all.

"I am sorry Enjolras," Marius apologizes. "I tend to act like a tool when I am surprised."

"I can definitely vouch for that part," she mutters under her breath.

Only Enjolras hears her, and the soft chuckle she gets in response makes her slip of the tongue completely worth it. He moves closer to her and wraps an arm around her, once again projecting the image of a picture perfect couple.

"I am sure that this was quite the surprise," 'Jolras finally responds out loud.

She is sure that this is quite the understatement because their fake relationship might even top pigs flying on Marius' list of things that will never happen.

"I barely remember the two of you ever even interacting," Marius is still surprised.

"We did meet through you, but we interact more often than you know," there is an odd emphasis on the word interact, and that just makes her giggle.

If she were to replace the word interact with something a lot more dirty, she would have one hell of a pun, which was probably his intention. It is kind of adorable, but she is mostly enjoying that he has a dirty mind to match his wicked tongue – and that just makes her sound like a damsel in a romance novel, which is not her intention.

"Did you just try to make an innuendo?" she raises her eyebrows.

"I thought I made 'interact' sound quite dirty," he is oddly proud of himself.

Well, if that was his goal, he definitely succeeded at it. She wonders how many more dirty-minded jokes the two of them will be able to make in their evil plots. She might have to start keeping a puns and dirty jokes tally to keep the both of them entertained while the happy couple blathers on and on about boring things.

"That you definitely did," she has to confirm.

"That is all I asked for," 'Jolras smiles at her again.

Holy shit, that smile could probably be a lethal weapon, causing men and women everywhere to pass out at its beauty and charm. Seriously, with his perfect white teeth and the bright blue eyes, he makes a beautiful picture. The curls are a bit off, but for her those curls just complete the package that is her friend 'Jolras.

"You two are so opposite, but somehow it actually works," Cosette observes.

"I guess we balance each other out," Enjolras shrugs. "How is that with you and Marius?"

The audacity is admirable, but this definitely stuns everyone into silence; Cosette and Marius most of all. It could all potentially be misconstrued as Enjolras just wanting to get some more insight into their relationship, when he is in fact being an asshole and trying to point out to them that getting married might not be the best idea if they do not know each other well enough. Basically, now Enjolras is being a total shit and she is enjoying this like nothing ever before. Knowing Marius as she does, he probably saw the girl once and "just knew", and that is definitely something worth mocking.

"We're soul mates," Cosette finally responds, looking at 'Jolras angrily.

"That's so romantic," she widens her eyes for the proper effect.

Yes, her wide-eyed enthusiasm is completely faked and everyone should be able to see through it, but only 'Jolras is smart enough to notice, because the lovely couple is just happy to see their relationship validated by her – or at least, that is what they think.

"I don't mean to be rude," Enjolras lets out an exaggerated yawn, "but can I be pointed to a room? I'd love to be able to put most of this stuff away."

They have been standing in the hall for the entire conversation, and they have been keeping an eye on their suitcases the entire time, because while the house looks big enough to have a twenty-people staff, no butler or bellboy has come out of the woodwork to help them with the heavy cases. She kind of wants Marius to carry their shit upstairs, but she knows that is not going to happen.

"And maybe we can get some sleep?" she emphasizes the word sleep.

"It was a pretty long flight," 'Jolras agrees, grinning at her joke.

If they were really a couple, there would be very little actual sleeping happening in that room, and they both know that they have to play that out right now. The immature snickers that want to escape are barely kept in. Still, Marius does not understand.

"I should be a better host," Marius finally notices. "We put you in a room together. Well, we put Éponine and her date in one room, before we knew it was you, Enjolras."

Yeah, so while it could get awkward at times, she does not really see any kind of big problem with that. She has shared rooms with men before, and at least with 'Jolras she knows that there will not be an issue with accidental middle of the night groping – at least not from him, because she might have a cuddling problem that most of her overnight guests do not get to know about. Guess 'Jolras just has to deal with it.

"I do not see why that should be a problem," he does not even look uncomfortable.

"I think it will actually be very nice," she plays the lovesick girlfriend well.

She is not sure if she is playing in love or just playing horny, but her drama classes in high school feel like a million years ago and she is not even sure that she cares how she plays it as long as it gets her away from Marius and his blonde bimbo.

"Can you wait just a few more minutes to jump me?" Enjolras makes her laugh.

"I think I can, but it might be hard," she follows up with an easy pun.

That earns her a groan from Enjolras, who was probably expecting that one.

"I'm sure it is hard already," Marius mutters. "Anyway, if you two would just follow me."

There is a pointed look to Enjolras' trousers that makes her laugh so hard that a few hiccups and snorts escape before she can control herself. The pissed of look that Enjolras responds with just makes things so much worse, and she has no idea how to pull herself together long enough to form any kind of response herself. She knows that the whole thing is super immature, but she cannot find it in herself to care.

"Right behind you," she speaks in between giggles.

They carry their luggage up the stairs and into a large guestroom. There is a pretty big bed, but also a lovely bathroom attached with a shower and bath obviously large enough for two. It is clear they have been given the best guestroom in the house, and she wonders if this is the only way Marius knows to apologize for being a total ass to her and completely ignoring the promise that they made ten years ago.

"This is so beautiful," she plays up on the enthusiasm. "Look at the bed!"

Indeed, the bed is probably the most amazing thing in the entire room, since they could probably house an entire harem in there without touching. Well, she might be exaggerating there, but the thing is still really freaking enormous.

"And that is Ponine's way of politely telling you to get out before she jumps me in full view of everyone," 'Jolras quips. "And it is my way of saying that I won't mind."

"I'll leave the two of you to it, then," Marius makes an awkward exit.

The door closes behind him, but there are no footsteps moving away. Obviously Marius wants to listen in to whatever they are doing – not just to be a total pervert, but also to figure out if this relationship between her and Enjolras is not just a prank being played on him. They have to continue the charade to fool him – and the nod she gets from 'Jolras means that he has noticed as well. They can totally manage keeping their secret from Marius, especially seeing as all he has to go on is sound.

"Come here," she jumps on the bed and orders him to follow her.

"I thought you would be the one jumping me this time," he responds quickly.

Would be the one taking all of the initiative in a relationship, she wonders. She can imagine it going several different ways with him, because he comes across as being very assertive, but he is also very inexperienced in the ways of love and relationships. If she had to paint a convincing portrait of their fake relationship in regards to who takes the initiative, it would change from time to time, with her usually being the more amorous one distracting him from his work from time to time. Still, she imagines that he would also be the kind of guy who would surprise his significant other from time to time with intimate moments that mean so much more from him.

And thus end the ideas and fantasies, because it is getting too weird.

"This time?" she fakes anger. "I can recall this lovely night two weeks ago when-"

"I remember," he quickly interrupts before she needs to fake details.

"I made sure that you would," she attempts to embarrass him.

She has no problems with thinking of details for their fake relationship, but Enjolras seems like a guy who would mind having the details of any relationship heard by other people – even if the relationship in question is faked.

Enjolras just laughs and joins her on the bed. Of course they would need to test its durability and the possibility of sound effects for their performance. The bed appears to be of good quality, because it produces very little sound as she rhythmically jumps up and down on it while Enjolras looks on with amusement. He participates only in the testing the headboard part, and that is also silently pronounced adequate.

"At least this bed seems sturdy enough," he laughs bemusedly.

"Yes, that time was somewhat embarrassing," she always has to one-up him.

With those words, Marius finally appears to be done eavesdropping, as they can finally hear footsteps moving away from their room. So she can finally be herself again.

"I thought he'd never leave," she sighs, lying down on the bed.

"I think we did quite well for now," Enjolras approves.

For now, everyone appears to be convinced of their relationship – but the real challenge is breaking up the happy couple, and at the same time keeping everyone in the Amis convinced that Éponine Thénardier is lucky enough to have cracked the marble. She thinks that it might just be better to let the Amis in on the plan and hope that they will help them make it work. Knowing those guys, they will probably help.

"I do not think Cosette likes us very much," she has to point that out.

"I thought that was the point of the plan," he has no problems with this.

"We do not want Cosette to limit our access to Marius," she has to remind him.

Yeah, so there is some work to be done to keep the suspicion off the two of them while they go after the relationship with everything that they have.

"You are right, mistress," and then 'Jolras sticks his foot in his mouth.

It is possibly the worst term that he could have used, and he knows it – he is not just turning red, he is ducking his head and turning away and muttering to himself about what kind of an idiot he is. She just has to wait for him to go back to normal.

"That was definitely the wrong choice of words," he recovers.

"It was," she has to agree with him on that point.

Still, she can forgive him that slip-up if he forgives her for the many slip-ups that she will undoubtedly have in the future. They are both only human, and they are bound to make more than a few mistakes in their epic quest to get Marius to figure out that she would make him an awesome girlfriend and wife.

"You should go talk to Cosette tomorrow," he offers a suggestion, "to apologize about your family or something. She looks like the type who would buy that."

Taking advantage of a naïve blonde: her idea of a good time.

"Thank you for the deviousness, partner," she sits up on the bed.

"You are welcome," he replies from his position next to her.

They share an awkward fist bump then, before they both drop down on the bed again, laying down together in a way that is more innocent than it looks. It is weird enough that she actually feels quite comfortable with him being close beside her.

"I am taking the right side," she announces then. "And I sleep mostly naked."

This is the sort of thing that roomies have to know about each other, right?

AN: Let me know what you think?!


	5. Chapter Four

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: This is Victor Hugo's sandbox, I am just playing in it.

AN: Mary, why can I never say no to you? No, seriously, after all of the encouragement Mary sent me during the writing process, I had to grant her request and release the next chapter sooner – just not as soon as she wanted it to be =P.

Chapter four: Odd looks and storybooks

It sounded like a good idea when 'Jolras suggested it, but now that she actually has to go up to Cosette and apologize because her parents are idiots, she is hesitant.

She does not like Cosette, and she wants to refuse to apologize to her for that reason, but she knows that will just make her sound like she is an immature child with a grudge against the girl with the pretty pigtails. And she is not that girl anymore.

"Cosette?" she tries to make an effort this time around.

The other woman looks as pretty as a picture even though it is early in the morning and by all rights she should still look and feel like a mess. She is a terrible mess in the morning – with or without coffee – and it is just does not seem fair that Cosette continues to be Miss Perfect while she just looks like a slob.

"Did you sleep okay?" Cosette's question does not appear to be completely sincere.

"Yes, I did," she replies with a smile. "The bed is wonderful."

And that is by no means a stupid joke about what Marius undoubtedly had to say to Cosette about their shenanigans in the bedroom – the ones that were completely imaginary and faked for Marius' benefit.

When she woke up, Enjolras was several inches closer to her than when she had gone to sleep, but she is still not sure which one of them is to blame for that. It was not uncomfortable, so there is no real problem with it besides it being odd to wake up with someone – and having to pretend to be asleep when he almost caught her staring at him right when he opened his eyes. It was a close call, but she managed.

"I am glad to hear that," Cosette does not sound very glad.

"Look, I want to apologize for my stupidity yesterday," she just blurts it out. "I know I was not very nice to you when we were kids, and I am genuinely sorry for that."

She is indeed sorry for the stupid things that she said and did when she was seven or eight years old, but she is mostly saying this to get in Cosette's good graces – she thinks that it is kind of obvious that she should not be held responsible for mistakes she made when she was too young to have any kind of real opinion of her own. All she really did wrong was listening to the wrong people – her parents were her heroes then.

"You should be," is the not very graceful response that she gets to that.

"I know," she tries to go along with it, even though Cosette's rejection is wrong. "I was not a very nice person as a kid. I let myself be influenced by my parents too much, and I know I should not use that as an excuse – just… I'm sorry for those days."

It is noble of her to even bother to apologize after all of this time, and still she gets it thrown back in her face without any kind of appreciation for her effort – she does not just apologize to everyone who might have gotten hurt by her listening to what her parents told her. She never apologizes, and Cosette should appreciate this.

"I am not sure if I can accept your apology," Cosette's grudge is baffling.

"That is okay," she rolls her eyes at Cosette behind her back. "I'm just glad you were taken away from there in time. I hope your stepfather was very kind to you."

Why did Cosette get taken away from there in time when she still had to live out her eighteen years of punishment in that house? She was a good girl, because she listened to her teachers and did her homework on time without too much complaining – and she was still stuck in that house while Cosette got a stepfather who bought her the most expensive doll at the store and took her away from them.

"He is still very kind," Cosette is now looking down on her, purposefully trying to rub it in her face. "He is the best father anyone could have had."

Cosette gets the best father that anyone could have ever had, while she just gets the worst father that she would never wish on anyone. He is the worst parts of her life, and all of the things that she would want to keep secret from the people she values have two faces in her father and mother. They are evil and wrong and she never wants to see them again as long as she lives, and fuck Cosette for getting a better life.

"You are lucky to have him in your life," she tries to keep her voice strong.

"I know that," Cosette remains triumphant.

This is just another way in which the world proves to her that it just is not fair – she has nothing left and Cosette has managed to get absolutely everything. It is probably supposed to be ironic to see how they have basically switched places, but the only thing that she did that could possibly have earned her this was to covet Marius – still, he was her Marius long before he ever even met Cosette. She cannot be blamed.

"And you are lucky to have Marius as well," another thing that hurts her to say.

"He is the best thing that ever happened to me," Cosette smiles dreamily.

If 'Jolras were here with her, he would probably laugh at her fake vomiting behind Cosette's back. But no, Enjolras is currently keeping Marius away from her and Cosette, so that she can get this conversation out of the way without interruptions.

"He has always been such a great guy," she thinks of happy memories with Marius.

There are so many happy memories with him – most of her happy memories have Marius in them – that she has trouble thinking of just one.

"How long have you known Marius?" she gets the long-awaited question.

"It feels like forever," she muses. "Well, it practically is forever. I think I was eight when I met him – we moved after you left and I was in his class. He was so nice to me."

In fact, Marius was the only person who treated her decently back then. Most of her other classmates thought that she was stupid and weird because she did not talk in the same way and she wore the wrong clothes – princesses were not appreciated there, because she was no longer the richest little girl in the class.

"He is a kind person, indeed," Cosette of course agrees with this.

"I think he gets that from his mother," she starts a little test of Cosette's knowledge.

If Marius bothered to tell Cosette about this sensitive subject, their relationship might actually mean more to him than having another perfect girlfriend that his grandfather might approve of. If he did not tell her about his mother, and she knows that he probably has not told her – she only knows because she was there when it happened – then Cosette does not mean enough to him to be truthful with her.

"You have met his mother?" Cosette seems to be surprised at that revelation.

"Oh yes," she smiles at the memories. "I used to wish that she was my mother."

There were many moment in which Annabelle Pontmercy tended to her scrapes and her tears with Band-Aids and gentle words, and in those moments she used to wish that her own mother was more like that. When she figured out that her mother would not change any time soon, she changed her wish and started wishing for Annabelle to be her Mom.

"You don't anymore?" Cosette's ignorance is revealed to her.

No, she still very much wishes that she was born with Annabelle as her mother, but she does not envy Marius the pain that came with his mother's death. In her most guilty fantasies she wishes that her own mother died instead of Annabelle.

"You don't know?" she almost wants to laugh, but Annabelle's death is still painful.

It has been over fifteen years, and speaking or hearing her name still hurts – she can only imagine how much worse it is for Marius because while she wanted Annabelle as her real mother, Marius was actually Annabelle's only child.

"What don't I know?" the other woman is getting angry with her.

"Marius' mother died when we were twelve," she hears her own voice crack. "It was cancer. He was really broken up about it, and so was his dad. They never talk about her."

She can count the times that she has heard Annabelle's name mentioned since her death on one hand. Marius is sad around her death every single year, but he always refuses to acknowledge why – even to her, when she knows what it is all about. She wonders if his father just forbade him from mentioning the topic ever again.

"His mother is dead?" Cosette widens her eyes in surprise.

"Yes," she confirms softly. "That's what I just said. She died over fifteen years ago."

They were only twelve years old, and they had just started middle school together – promising each other that things would be better and that the bullies would no longer get either of them. They were going to have a perfect year together, and nothing was going to go wrong – until it did and his Mom just kept getting worse and worse until everyone knew there was no getting better. It was the worst year.

"I thought his parents just divorced, and that she abandoned Marius," Cosette speaks.

"Nope," she wishes that it really had been something relatively painless for Marius – at least she would have lived. "He just hates talking about her death. It was pretty terrible to witness at the end. We were too young for that sort of thing, but we still saw all of it."

There were many nightmares that year, for the both of them, and she has never been so happy that her parents were super lax when it came to bed checks, because she mostly spent her nights on an air mattress next to Marius' bed that year. Her parents never bothered to say anything about it – she is still not sure that they even noticed.

"That's terrible," Cosette breathes, still stunned.

"It was," she does not want to remember. "His grandparents moved in with them after that. Have you met his grandfather? That man is the scariest old man I've ever met."

Oh, the man may look like a nice grandfather figure, but his mind is still extremely sharp and he has his conservative opinions that he has to tell everyone about. He has a very fixed image of the person his grandson is supposed to be, and there was always hell to pay if Marius deviated from that image even the tiniest bit. And Marius had been a rebellious teen at times – heck, he was a pretty normal teenager that way.

"He has been quite nice to me," Cosette continues to think she is better than her.

"Oh, he's always nice to your face," she continues to know better than that.

The man is a sneaky little bastard; something that she could almost admire him for if he was not constantly talking down to her and manipulating Marius into doing whatever he wanted. She admired the skills, but definitely not the man behind them.

"Excuse me?" Cosette is definitely not amused.

"He has had Marius break up with several of his high school and college girlfriends," she could even tell Cosette all of their names to really get the message across.

There was Lily in the eighth grade, because grandfather Pontmercy did not like that her parents were both artists. Then there was Sarah in ninth grade, because she had a reputation and grandfather did not want his precious Marius to be tarnished even the slightest bit by that ridiculous reputation. Even in college, his short-lived fling with Ava was ended because she was not the type of woman that grandfather could see as his granddaughter in law. These are just a few of the examples.

"And Marius listened to him?" this apparently does not fit with her image of Marius.

"Marius always listens to his father and grandfather," she emphasizes the always.

Lily and Sarah were both pretty heart-broken about these break-ups, but Ava just called him an immature daddy's boy and went on her way.

"Does he listen to them about everything?" Cosette seems a little scared now.

"He listens to them about just about everything," there is the one extremely memorable occasion of Marius' rebellion on her behalf. "His grandfather really does not like me, but Marius told him to stuff it. Did he meet your stepdad yet?"

She still has some vague recollections of the man who came to take Cosette away, and back then he did not seem to be the kind of man who would be able to handle the drama of a family such as the Pontmercies. Who knows, maybe appearances are deceiving?

"I have introduced my stepfather to Marius only," Cosette has actually made a smart move in that, because the rest of the Pontmercies are damn scary.

Not that she has even met any other members of the Pontmercy family other than the father and the grandfather – she knows that they are both extremely embarrassed of Marius' friendship with her and they refuse to introduce her to the family. She does not even want to rebel against this order, because she does not feel the need to meet any more snobs from Marius' family – she only wants to meet the nice ones, but according to Marius there are no such people in his family for her to meet.

"Is he still super shy?" she inquires after Cosette's stepfather.

"My father still does not do well with new people," Cosette stays formal.

That is one of the few things that she does remember about the man: he was extremely awkward around her parents and the guests at their inn. She remembers her parents getting money from him and then being made to check on her siblings.

"Would he remember me?" she ponders. "I mean, I could apologize to him as well."

What she is babbling about, she has no idea. She is still trying to think of new ways to stick it to Cosette, but with all of this talk about the past she just wants to crawl back into the wonderful bed and pull the blankets over her head until the memories go away again. Still, there is no way that she can do that, so she has to go on.

"I don't think that you need to do that," Cosette sounds bored.

"Okay, I'm just going to defer to your better judgment on that," she tries to sound casual.

The blankets idea still sounds like the best option at the moment, so she just has to stick it out in this stupid conversation when she has nothing to say – but she hopes she has sown the seeds of doubt in Cosette's mind like Enjolras has been doing with Marius.

"Good," is all that Cosette has to say to that.

Great, now they both have no idea what to say. That helps so much.

"I wonder where the boys are," she kind of misses her partner in crime at her side.

Knowing Enjolras at least a little, he is as far from this room as he can possibly be, to decrease the risk of Marius ending up in the middle of a catfight. He did not use those terms, but she could see that that was what he meant. She is not planning to attack Cosette in such an obvious way – at this point she prefers the evil backstabbing ways of dirty girl politics. She never had to be that kind of girl before.

"Have you seen Marius yet?" of course that is the first thing Cosette asks.

"Nah," she shakes her head, "but I think 'Jolras was planning on looking for him."

The nickname has now become her form of address for him, because saying his last name all the time is stupid and annoying, and since he still will not let her call him Gabriel, she needed something else to work with. Now she's still calling him by her last name, only in her special way – and he does not even seem to mind it that much.

"When did you and Enjolras get together?" the awkward question comes.

"Oh, that's so weird to talk about," she asks like a dumb blonde to stall for time.

They did not yet have the time to talk about their lovely and romantic story – because even though they both knew that they would eventually have to tell this story to Marius and Cosette, they needed more time to come up with something believable.

"How is it weird?" Cosette continues to prod.

"Nobody would ever have expected that we would end up together," she tries to stall for time again. "I mean, I don't think we even expected it to happen."

They did not expect it to happen because it did not happen. It is not real. Surprise!

With the footsteps coming towards them, she can finally take a deep breath because Enjolras is coming to help her with this or to distract Cosette from asking any more questions about this topic. But how will she communicate that to him?

"Judging by the awkward silence, you were just talking about us," 'Jolras walks in.

Marius is quick to follow him, and of course the sappy idiot immediately moves to Cosette to plant a kiss on her lips. Enjolras would not dare to try something like that, so he simply moves to stand next to her – that is enough anyway. She does not need any sappy stuff from him right now; she just needs him to be right there next to her.

"Eponine was just about to tell me how the two of you got together," Cosette grins.

"That is a story that I have got to hear," Marius immediately jumps on the bandwagon.

Enjolras shoots a look at her that is his version of mild panic – for most people it would not be so obvious, but she has learned to read people very well.

"It's a long and weird story," she starts, giving him time to think of something.

There is obviously a lot of thinking going on behind his impassive face, and they share a look that is meant to convey for Marius and Cosette that while they are not particularly interested in sharing their story, they will tell it to them. She tries to be the pleading one this time, giving him the adorable look that usually works on people. That look would probably never work on him, but he is letting it work for their charade.

"It actually started at the Halloween party last year," he makes up a decent start.

She can work with that timeline. It means that they have been together for a while, but not long enough to go to all of their activities as a couple – she is not sure if she would even want that as a real couple. If Marius wanted it, she would go, though.

"One of the secretaries at his firm is a friend of mine," she fakes an excuse, "and she asked me to go to this Halloween party some guy from her work was throwing."

Some of her co-workers and their significant others continue to ask her to come to parties with them – she is one of the few single women on staff, and her colleagues seem determined to get everyone paired up somehow. Luckily, they are usually picky enough to not let her end up with someone horrible, but she has been on more than one unwanted date. Meeting Enjolras somewhere would have been much better.

"Enjolras went to a party?" that seems to be the biggest surprise to Marius.

"The person throwing this party happened to be the senior partner's son," Enjolras has to clarify, and he has a good excuse. "One does not simply refuse a party like that."

He is a lawyer after all, so he would definitely know how to think of a good story, or how to spin existing events into something more positive or negative. She is still surprised at him sometimes, but she continues to like what she finds out about him.

"Anyway," she tries to get on with the story, "so we got there and this guy started bothering me. Since my friend told me that I was not allowed to eviscerate one of the firm's up and comers, I was rather limited in my response possibilities."

If a guy tries to bother her, she can get rather violent in her response if she is not held back by anyone. She just hates it when men feel entitled to her just because they talk to her and try to keep their eyes on her face – and then she is called a tease if she gets a little flirty with them but does not want to take someone home with her. Men think they have the power, and she is more than ready to make them see the truth.

"I saw my colleague making an ass of himself," Enjolras sounds amused at the fake memory, "in front of a really angry woman who happened to look familiar."

Would they have recognized each other? She thinks that she at least would have, because those crazy curls have somehow found a place into her memory bank, and she will probably never forget him. Now that she has gotten to know him better as well, she is sure that he will be remembered forever – no matter in what way the adventure at the wedding ends, she will continue to be his friend after this. At least, she hopes that he wants to be her friend after all of this is over.

"Was he your knight in shining armor?" Cosette gets starry-eyed at that idea.

"Ponine has never needed any kind of knight to save her," 'Jolras corrects. "I simply went over there to drag my colleague away and ended up being dragged into her scheme."

Once again Enjolras comes up with the perfect story to tell – and he knows her well enough that she never needs to be rescued from anything, because she is strong enough to find a way out and resourceful enough to solve her own problems.

"You liked it," she teases, because she lives to tease him.

"At the time, I was mostly confused," he replies, a sweet smile on his face.

She would have kissed him and pretended that he was her boyfriend. That is her less violent response option, something that she will only try with a male friend that she trusts not to try and take advantage of the situation. She would have asked R to do something like this – and if she had met Enjolras in this situation, she definitely would have tried it with him. Still, he would probably have rejected her.

"What happened?" Marius simply has to know the answer to this question.

"She kissed me," Enjolras responds and proves her right.

And it would have been a damn good kiss, even though they both were not expecting anything like that. Her pride would not have let it be anything less than amazing, and he is more than passionate enough to be a good kisser. She knows that R told her that the kiss between him and Enjolras was just awkward and bad – but that was almost fifteen years ago and she damn well hopes that he has improved since then.

Now she's way too into this fictional kiss that is none of her concern.

"Eppie did what?" Marius is obviously judging her now.

"I pretended that he was my boyfriend," she shrugs, because it is obvious. "The fact that we already knew each other's names seemed to be enough to convince the guy."

The trick has worked for her several times before, when men were drunk and easy to convince of just about everything – if they planned to take some kind of advantage of her, they deserved to be made fun of in return. They lose all rights to their dignity for the future, and she will decide when to forget about it and move on.

"He was a very drunk Zorro," Enjolras paints the scene rather vividly, "and you knew I was dressed as Giles when everyone else just thought I really liked tweed."

He would be dressed as Giles, would he! The mere idea of it amuses her, because he is the kind of guy who would be dressed as an old librarian on Halloween when everyone else is wearing skimpy outfits and drinking too much alcohol. He would also be the kind of guy dressed as an old guy with glasses – and look hot at the same time.

"You even had the glasses," she fake remembers, "you look even hotter with glasses."

"I will remember that," he winks at her and she giggles.

If he shows up with a pair of glasses some time before the wedding she just might have to kiss him in full view of everyone, no matter how he might feel about it – they still have not discussed how far they are willing to go to keep people convinced. That is a discussion they really need to have pretty soon, because at some point Cosette and Marius will need to see something more than hugging. They can talk a good game together, but even Marius is not oblivious enough to believe that talking and hugging constitutes a relationship – especially not when he knows about her tendencies to occasionally get a bit carried away in public. He would never buy this relationship if he did not see any physical action. Enjolras has to be told about this.

"What happened then?" Cosette is completely riveted by the story.

"I remembered how I knew him and asked about the Amis," she keeps it going.

There is nothing else that they have in common that they could possibly talk about – well, she made that sound more dramatic than it actually was. They seem so different, but while they are indeed from very different backgrounds, they probably have more in common than people would expect from them. At least, that is what she thinks, but has yet to find out in reality. Marius should be her focus, but Enjolras can be a friend.

"I was still a little shell-shocked," Enjolras is now the one teasing.

She cannot blame him for that, because if something like this were to actually happen in real life, there would be much surprise on both sides. She would be shell-shocked as well if she had just been kissed by the Marble Man – even if she had been the one to make the first move for the sake of something stupid. There would be surprise.

"He wasn't used to practical strangers trying to hit first base," she one-ups him.

"You forgot to mention that you were dressed as Madonna in the 80s," he taunts.

The ass! He is seriously making a joke at her expense now, and she really just wants to shove it in his face, but she cannot do that. Oh, it is a marvelous little trick and she will definitely pay him back for that at some point.

"I called it 'Manila Whore Barbie', actually," she makes a secret reference.

"I remember," he grins at her, seemingly actually understanding what the reference was about. "I was having some minor trouble figuring out where to look."

Oh, one of these days she will look for a costume like that one again, and she will make him remember all of the places where he should not be looking. Or she could show him the infamous red dress and make him forget his own name – and everything else that he has ever known, because it is just that kind of dress.

"I thought you were totally hot," she winks at him. "I wouldn't have minded."

"Women should be treated with respect," he stays true to his values, as always.

That is definitely something admirable about him, and while his friends have occasionally made fun of these very values, she continues to appreciate them.

"We started talking," she goes on, "and we hit it off, to just about everyone's surprise."

"We became friends first," Enjolras really makes the story better, "and nothing even happened until we were both alone at Christmas and decided to celebrate together."

Now she is sad, because this story is starting to sound like a much happier alternate version of her life – one that she would actually prefer over the real version because in this alternate version she is happy and loved. There is no possible way to make it real though. And in this other version she will never have Marius – at least in this version she still has some chance of getting him back, if she is convincing enough.

"We stayed at his apartment," she throws in some truth. "I'm in love with his couch. Seriously, that thing is so comfortable I could live on it and never leave, not ever."

If she could own that couch in any way, she would do it – even if she had to sell her soul for it to be hers. Well, maybe not her soul, but there are not very many things that she would not do to have that couch – and now she has let him know it too.

"Really, she is just with me for the couch," Enjolras goes along with her joke.

"Oh no, you found out," she pretends to be shocked and embarrassed.

He moves closer to her at that, because they have to start selling this story a bit better than they have been doing so far. She clasps his hand in hers.

"So, what happened over Christmas?" Cosette starts prodding for answers.

"Just tell me it was not the mistletoe," Marius is less than impressed.

A relationship built on a mistletoe kiss? That only works in the movies anyway – and even as a fake couple she and Enjolras would be way more interesting than that, and also a lot hotter than that. There would be a steamy scene, in her opinion.

"Mistletoe is totally romantic," Cosette disagrees with her fiancé.

"Enjolras would never try something as cliché as that," Marius replies harshly.

There are some bursts showing in their seemingly perfect relationship, and she is relishing every single bit of that. Cosette has this stupid and naïve image of romance that simply cannot coincide with the harshness that Marius has already known – and Marius just knows the two of them better than that. Even though he can be a romantic idiot from time to time, he cannot be called naïve, like she is now calling Cosette.

"I am glad you hold me in such high esteem," 'Jolras grins at his friend.

"And no, it was not the mistletoe," she laughs softly, thinking of something good. "I don't really know what it was, really. One minute we were making dinner, and the next minute I was on the kitchen table with my legs wrapped around his waist."

She is not sure if this is just something she really wants to happen in her life – preferably with Marius, thank you very much – or a random thought that has only been voiced to make 'Jolras turn that lovely shade of red again. It is a hobby of hers to make him turn that shade, and she is glad that she made it happen again.

"I'm just glad we stopped before the food burned to a crisp," his face is still red.

In response to his mild embarrassment, she goes further than they have before. Their hands are still intertwined, keeping her grounded while this stupid mess with Marius rages on and on. She continues to hate Cosette for taking him from her.

"You were the one making the first move, buster," she tucks their hands closer.

"Maybe I was," he acts carefree and careless.

She leans in closer to him while letting go of his hand. She tucks her arm around him and wraps herself into his side instead. It is a step closer to what Marius would want to see, and 'Jolras continues to make her feel stronger and more comfortable – and that is exactly what she needs at this point, with the happy couple eyeing them.

"How come I didn't know yet?" Marius seems insulted now.

"You haven't exactly been around all that much," 'Jolras goes for a gentle reminder.

Try not being around at all, because that is the more accurate description. She does not understand how she can be so angry with him and be so hopelessly in love with him at the same time. She loves him because he is her best friend and the best person that she knows and the only person who knows her and still loves her – but she almost hates him for the way he let her slip away from his life over the last few years.

"We haven't exactly been telling people either," she makes another excuse for Marius, as usual. "But yes, if you had asked me if I was seeing someone, I would have told you."

If he asked, she would have told him just about anything. That has always been how it worked with her and Marius. He asks and she gives, and it has been fine until now.

"Still, I'm your oldest friend," Marius uses a trump card that has so little meaning coming from him at this point. "You should have said something. I tell you everything."

Oh yes, he tells her everything. Coming from the guy who sent her the generic wedding announcement after not being in contact for basically a year, that is just laughable. He has made her feel alone, abandoned, and worthless and here he is lecturing her on not telling him her every secret. That makes her sick.

"You didn't tell me about Cosette," she feels bile coming up her throat at his hypocrisy and his lies. "And I'm not the one getting married."

All she can do after something like that is walk away and hope she does not puke on the expensive furniture. Maybe there's an empty vase somewhere.

AN: Anyone seen Juno? Remember the part with the blue vomit in the special vase? Yeah, I'm not doing that, but I think that Éponine was pretty close…

Also, keep reviewing and messaging. I'd love to get to know my reviewers. Talk to me on Tumblr (textsfromumbridge) or Twitter (dutchmoxie)…


	6. Chapter Five

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any emotional damage happening after the movie, the musical, or the book version of Les Mis. Blame Victor Hugo for that. You can only blame me for the feels you get from this fic.

AN: Prepare yourself. The chapter title is not as innocent as you might think.

Chapter five: Experimenting

It is just minutes after the stupid rehearsal dinner has ended, and it has started to turn into a huge snob fest due to Cosette's friends – all just as picture-perfect as the girl herself. They all look down on her constantly, making jokes at her expense and laughing and pointing as if they are all still in middle school. She is mostly sure that Cosette is the person who put them up to it, but she has not gotten any real proof yet.

"Hello love," 'Jolras comes up beside her. "I am sorry about those girls."

He immediately wraps an arm around her, and she steps in closer like it is her second nature – and it has become normal for her to stand close to him. This time it is even better, since he is rocking a nice suit and she gets to wear her second best dress – it is black and has enough cleavage to make him have trouble figuring out where the hell he should be looking. He has already pretended to stare at her necklace, but she has been too busy feeling terrible about the girls to call him out on it.

"How do you know that?" she is stunned at his observational skills.

"It is one of my many skills," he turns into a smooth operator.

Since she knows that modesty usually is one of his attributes as well, she doubts that he is being serious about this. Apparently he has decided to act like a dork to make her smile, and she is almost ashamed to admit that it is working.

"Nice smooth talking, 'Jolras," she compliments him, only half kidding.

"Are you okay?" he asks her in response, looking worried.

That look on his face is annoying as hell. She doesn't need his help handling some immature mean girls; no matter how uncomfortable they make her feel. She has been handling that sort of thing by herself since elementary school, and she has done a pretty good job at it if she does say so herself. She can handle herself just fine.

"I can handle it," she is harsh with him, because he will not listen otherwise.

"I know that you can handle everything," he smiles at her. "Are you okay?"

So, he just want to know if she is okay – that is pretty new for her. She thinks that it might be pretty new for him too, because he usually has to be the knight in shining armor who rides out for justice and equality everywhere. He has this pathological need to save people, and she just does not want to be saved – not by him nor by anyone else who is so inclined. She is an independent adult who can take care of herself.

"Not really, but we need to be the happy and convincing couple," she keeps him focused.

"I know they say that men cannot multitask," he jokes, "but I happen to be one of the exceptions that prove that rule. I can play happy couple and make you feel better."

She probably will not reject any kind of offer to make her feel better – and she does mean that as dirty as that can possibly sound. She would not reject him if he had a personality transplant and offered her a ride on his pole. Well, that is probably a weird euphemism to use – she would not reject an offer of sex coming from him.

"Look, how far are you willing to go with this?" she finally asks him.

"You are talking about our skill at charades," he responds in extremely cryptic terms.

When talking about the actual game of charades, she might just be worst player in the entire history of the game – but when talking about the charade that they are making Marius believe, she is quite the talented player. Enjolras makes a good partner in this game, she has to give him that. He is quite the actor, and she hopes that he is willing to go far enough to really give the crowd what they want from them.

"I am indeed talking about that, good sir," she makes a curtsey.

"As long as we do not need to have sex," he ruins her fantasies, "I am all right."

Okay, so the sex thing was just a stupid fantasy about getting release. It has been quite a while for her and she could do with the release. It is silly that she got Enjolras involved in the fantasy, but she can forgive herself that slip-up quite easily.

"You would be okay with kissing?" that is enough of a surprise for her.

"I figured that would be a necessary part of this," he shrugs. "Besides, I saw you with that boyfriend of yours in college. You couldn't keep your hands off each other."

How would he even remember her from back then? They did not really interact all that often in those years, and she is surprised that he remembered her name from back then, let alone who she was seeing for almost a year in sophomore and junior year. She has mostly forgotten – or repressed – the details of those months, but apparently Enjolras still remembers Montparnasse. She wishes everyone would forget about him.

There is no way for her to forget completely, because the scars are still there.

"In more ways than one," her hand goes to her abdomen, shielding herself.

"So, do you want to stage a kiss?" Enjolras changes the subject.

Oh, she can just picture the surprised look on Marius' face when he catches her and Enjolras locked in a romantic embrace – the green eyed monster will have to make an appearance as well, because he has never really had to share her before.

"I think I will just surprise you," she sends him a wink.

It seems like a fun idea to just jump him in the middle of an awkward moment, with all of the guests occupied with other, more important things. She has never liked to plan things like this, because planning romantic actions make them seem a lot less romantic than they are supposed to be. She does not want it to look too staged.

"And you think that will look convincing?" Enjolras does not seem to agree.

"We will just have to practice a lot tonight," she teases, "in some hidden corners."

In the old days, all she would have been able to think about was sneaking into the hidden areas with Marius – because one of these days he is finally going to see her for the wonderful girlfriend she can be and they simply will not be able to keep their hands off each other in public or in private. Right now, all she can think of is making Marius hurt like she has been hurting, and the only way that she can think of to do that is to make Enjolras the new most important man in her life – and to make out a lot.

"And to think Marius thought that we were beyond the clichés," he grins at her.

That smile of his is enough to make most women melt, and now that it is pointed at her, she is having trouble continuing her train of thought. It is terrible of her to be so shallow, but seeing Marius in a suit has done something to her libido – and her newly awakened libido appears to be interested in Enjolras, of all people.

"You need to tell me if pigs started flying," R shows up and interrupts their moment.

Apparently most of the Amis are only bringing a date to the actual wedding, so R is flying solo for the night – and it shows in his drinking habits. There is a half empty beer bottle in his hands, and she is sure that it is not the first of the night.

"Hello to you too, R," she rolls her eyes at her friend's dramatics.

"You two are dating?" R has found out about their story. "When did that happen?"

It never happened – but if they explain it like that they might cause R's brain to explode as it tries to figure out what that means. She just blames the booze.

"Can you keep a secret?" she has to ask him that, even though she knows his answer.

"Of course," R acts as if she has grievously insulted him.

R is not the kind of person who would reveal something told to him in confidence, and she knows that much, but she needs to get him to say it again. If he promises not to tell, she can seriously damage him if he does happen to break his promise.

"Even if you get drunk again?" 'Jolras shoots a pointed look at R's bottle.

"I'm not a chatty drunk," R once again tells them this story, after they have heard him tell it ten times already. "I'm more of a funny drunk. That and a living lie detector."

She has definitely experienced the funny drunk part of that explanation. She has attended several parties with R over the years – he is the only Ami besides Marius that she has actually kept in touch with – and he usually ends up being the life of the party after a few drinks. He tells all of the best jokes and crazy anecdotes – and many of those anecdotes are about his fellow Amis. She has knowledge of Marius and his friends that very few other people have. Cosette will never know these things about Marius.

"I know," Enjolras smiles fondly at some sort of memory that is associated with those words. "That's how we found out Courfeyrac was sleeping with your sister."

Courfeyrac, the flirt, would even hit on his friends' siblings. She is just lucky that Azelma was still considered too young for him when they were in college, because otherwise she would have had to try some amateur castration on dear Courfeyrac.

"Don't remind me," R makes a face and takes another sip of his bottle.

Ellie Grant is one of the Amis' siblings that she has actually met, and she can imagine that Courfeyrac would go after her – the girl even modeled for a while.

"So, what's the secret?" R interrupts her memories of his sister.

"I'm trying to make Marius jealous," she admits with her head held high.

Why should she have to be embarrassed about her feelings for Marius? It is not as if the Amis do not already know that she has these feelings – they have probably already guessed that this relationship between her and Enjolras is less than

"Wait, someone is finally going to mess with Pontmercy for his idiocy?" R is excited.

There is a pointed cough from Enjolras' direction, and that seems to make R understand that he is in the presence of one of the few people who still think that Marius is not a complete idiot. Most of his friends have already called him an idiot.

"When I say idiocy," R is scrambling to come up with some kind of synonym for that term, "I mean his failure to see the lovely Éponine as a romantic prospect."

"Stop sucking up, R," she has to roll her eyes at him.

Their group of three becomes a group of four when the resident romantic joins their conversation. Jehan Prouvaire is practically the antithesis of Enjolras, at least at first meeting. He is a former English major who published his first volume of poetry at fourteen – the critics love him and he has the awards to prove it. Even though she is not really a big poetry fan, she still owns at least one copy of his every book.

"Marius told me all about you two," Jehan's eyes are twinkling. "It is quite romantic, and you two are the least people I would expect to be so romantic about a relationship. So, why are we making Marius believe you two are in love, and how can I help?"

She is impressed with his wits, and even more impressed with his willingness to go along with their plan without even really knowing what it is all about. Jehan is the hidden kind of badass that no one would ever consider as being trouble until they are back to back in a bar fight and Jehan is the person to be scared of. He has a mean right hook for someone with a mostly pacifist attitude.

"How did you figure it out before I did?" R is not happy to not be the best.

"The drink has addled your brain," Jehan is good with his words.

"Watch it, poet boy," R responds with a mock taunt, and they both laugh.

The boys are pretending to be stupid idiots, but that does give her an idea. If she ever runs out of plans to sabotage the wedding, she can always ask the guy to start fighting over something ridiculous like the true meaning of the poem Jehan is currently writing – R has always enjoyed making stupid sexual puns about the poetry, because he can find something dirty in just about anything. He calls that his gift.

Enjolras would call it the most annoying thing about him.

"Jehan?" she attempts to get his attention.

"Yes, Éponine?" Jehan fixes his brightly colored shirt.

"Thank you for helping," is all that she really wants to say to him.

It means a lot to her that these men would take her side over the guy who is supposed to be their friend. She is probably supposed to be mad that Marius' friends are not more loyal to him, but now that the odds are in her favor, she is really happy about their almost betrayal of Marius. They like her better than him, and that is new for her.

"Just act supportive of us," Enjolras orders his friends around like the natural leader he has always been, "and if there is anyway you can stick it to Marius in some sort of subtle way at the same time, I wholeheartedly recommend that you do so."

Enjolras is her firmest supporter in this whole endeavor, and she has no idea how she will ever be able to thank him for all that he has done. He is probably the only guy in the world who would not even try for sex as some sort of repayment.

"What has he done now?" Jehan appears to be fed up with Marius' antics.

"He has slighted Eponine," R talks about her as if she is a fair maiden.

That just makes her feel off, because she is no helpless maiden who needs a prince to kiss her and make her life complete. But she knows that is not what they mean.

"Oh yes, we must surely reprimand him for that," Jehan bows in reverence to her.

All of these boys care very much about treating women right – even though there are some notorious flirts among the group. She thinks it is only just of them, because she never would have believed that they were honestly fighting for justice and equality if they had not been able to treat the real people in their real lives with integrity and kindness and respect. Enjolras would not allow crappy behavior anyway.

This is not some kind of implication that he is a dictator, because he is much too kind for that. Still, he holds justice and equality above all else – even above kindness.

"I don't need one knight in shining armor, let alone multiple knights," she argues.

"You kind of screwed that up when you started fake dating Enjolras here," R motions at his friend dramatically. "He can't not be a knight in shining armor."

The mindboggling structure of that sentence cannot be grammatically correct, but it has been too long since her grammar classes, so she does not bother to think about it all too much. She has better things to think about – like getting Marius back.

"There was too much negation in that sentence," Enjolras corrects.

"And he is also a Grammar Nazi," R should be used to this kind of thing by now.

It is definitely not unexpected to her, because she should have known that he would also be the kind of person who corrects his friends' grammar – because he does not want them to sound stupid, of course. He is just that kind of guy, and she thinks that it is kind of adorable. As his fake girlfriend, she should probably mention that to him.

"Just one of the many things that I love about him," she blows Enjolras a kiss.

Jehan smiles at that, because he enjoys any kind of romantic show of affection, even if their romanticism is all faked for Marius' benefit. She just likes being able to flirt with a guy and not have him expect anything from her in return.

"That is probably more than I ever needed to know about that," R rolls his eyes.

"Deal with it," she sticks her tongue out.

If R is already freaking out at something like this, there is no telling how he will be acting by the time the wedding comes around – if the wedding actually happens. They are getting worse and worse with their flirty comments and sly jokes, and this would actually be considered mild for the two of them. It was maybe a little too sweet, because most of their jokes tend a little more towards the sexual side.

"I have somewhere you can put that tongue," Enjolras shows his feisty side.

"It is like watching a train wreck," R comments. "I just cannot look away."

She is having trouble looking at anything other than Enjolras, because after a comment like that she cannot stop thinking about the place where she can put her tongue – which she is just going to assume is his mouth, because any other place would just be out of character for him. If he does mean any other place, he might get a kick in the nuts just like any other guy who tries something with her. But she knows that he won't.

So she keeps moving closer until their bodies touch and his arms move to wrap around her. He knows what is coming and so does she. Their mouths gravitate towards each other, and their lips meet in a brief kiss – barely more than a peck until they try it again, because it does feel quite nice on her end. The second try is better because their mouths stay fused longer, and he even moves his lips against hers a little.

They step back and breathe again. Things shifted just now, and it is odd.

"Keep practicing," R tells them firmly, practically pushing them together.

"That was not a bad kiss," she, as the expert, argues against him.

There have been much worse kisses in her life, and remembering that Enjolras does not ever kiss people – and probably has not kissed anyone since he was fourteen – that just makes it even more surprising that she was not even a little repulsed or bored.

"It is also not the kiss of a couple that has been together for a few months," she has to admit that R actually makes a rather good point with that one. "You should be in the honeymoon phase for fuck's sake. You should be having serious problems with keeping your hands off each other long enough to do anything."

The feeling that R describes is somewhat foreign to her, because while she and her old boyfriend, Montparnasse, had a lot of sex, it was never a matter of being so in love with each other that they could not stop being together. It was mostly a matter of either being horny or being frustrated and having no other way to deal with it. She has never been in a healthy and loving relationship, so how the fuck would she know?

"This is us practicing," Enjolras now looks even more uncomfortable.

"It is a very romantic image, Enjolras," Jehan speaks, usually the voice of reason coming between R and Enjolras. "But I have to agree with mister Grant on this."

R being right about something is definitely a pretty novel concept for most of them to deal with – especially with support coming from the romantic in the group, when R is always so cynical about things. They are such an odd bunch, these Amis.

"Now we have to talk about flying pigs," Enjolras tries to joke about things.

"You're adorable," she tells him with a smile. "Let's try it again. You know you want to."

She is wiggling her eyebrows at him, trying to entice him into kissing her again, and all around trying to be adorable. She is batting her eyelashes like some deranged teenager, and if she had a fan, she would learn that language to seduce him too – because what she is doing right now is a kind of seduction. Everything that they are doing is faked, but she still has to seduce him into doing it. It is an odd experience.

"R, that is our cue to leave," Jehan tries to drag R away from them.

"Do tell me what he's like in bed later, okay?" R shouts back over his shoulder.

Of course R is shouting way too loud, because most of the people present at the tables surrounding them are now staring at them and judging them. She feels judged, but all that she wants to do in response is to give them something to judge.

"He has to have the last word," she shakes her head, trying not to laugh.

The response that Enjolras gives to that is to pull her close and to try this kissing thing again. Only this time he is a much more active participant in the kissing. Their mouths are moving more now, and they cannot fake real kissing convincingly enough without actually really doing the kissing themselves, so she has to slip him some tongue. To her surprise, she actually gets a tentative response to that. His tongue is moving with hers and they start a kind of dance, until she feels the fire surround her.

When did it get so fucking hot in here?

"Do you guys need a room?" Marius interrupts their second attempt.

"We already have one," she snipes at him. "It's right upstairs."

There is not even any real jealousy showing on his face, only some embarrassment, because it is undoubtedly not done in Cosette's social circles to kiss like this in public – and especially not to attempt the Marble Man into moving further than a mere kiss in public. He is embarrassed of her again, and after everything he has already done over the last few weeks, this is just the final disappointment that she can handle.

"Please don't hate me Eppie," Marius makes a pointless plea.

"I don't hate you," she hates that she doesn't. "You're my best friend. That does not mean that I cannot be really angry with you for keeping all of these secrets from me."

The drama has managed to attract even more attention from Cosette's gossipy friends, something that she really does not need at this point in time. There is more pointing now, and the whispering is almost audible to her now. She really does not want to know what they are saying about her – and she is still so angry with Marius.

"Tell your girl to call off her minions," Enjolras orders Marius around.

"What are you talking about?" of course the idiot is oblivious once again.

He is Marius, and he is an idiot, and she should have seen that a long time ago. She just loves him so much, and she can barely remember a time before he was her best friend, and she does not know how to be Éponine without her best friend Marius by her side in whatever way that he could be. It might be sad that her identity has always depended on someone else, but it was all that she had. She has always had Marius – and now she does not have him anymore and it hurts. He is not even the same guy anymore.

"There is this whole table of Cosette's friends," Enjolras seems to have absolutely no trouble with pointing all of the girls out to Marius, "and they seem to delight in acting like they are still in middle school. They have decided to make Eponine the victim of their immature bullying campaign. Either you stop it or I will."

She might be a little tired of Enjolras' 'equality and justice for all' habit, but she is more tired of letting all of this happen to her – because it just keeps happening. She is beyond that at her own school now, because she is in a position of power and the students would never dare to make too much fun of her. They seem to respect her for some reason, and she is proud of her accomplishments at her work.

Marius has never appreciated the things that she has accomplished; or he has just never really understood how much these things mean to her.

"I can handle it, 'Jolras," she has to argue with him, but she is so tired.

"I know you can," he still is not refuting this, "but sometimes I want to help you. You don't have to do everything on your own, you know."

If only she had met this guy instead of Marius. The fleeting thought that flits by in her head disturbs her so much that she has to take a minute to think better thoughts of Marius. She loves him, so why can she no longer be loyal to him?

"I will tell you when I want you there, okay?" she almost smiles at 'Jolras.

"Are we still talking about me helping you?" he then shoots a wink at her.

Maybe they are now secretly talking about their little experiment earlier, because that definitely helped her to see some things from a different perspective – albeit a very terrifying one. A life without Marius has always been unthinkable, but it is slowly starting to become her reality. And she thinks that that is probably worse.

"Oh, there are still a few things you can help me with," she steps in closer to him.

"Stop making everything into a sex talk," Marius is annoyed with the two of them.

They are probably much more annoyed with him than he is with them, and they are the ones with the legitimate reasons to be angry. It is funny, because they are also the ones who are lying about some pretty serious things – their entire united front is a scam that Marius somehow still buys. Well, it started out as a scam and now the friendship is almost real and only the kissing is for Marius' benefit.

"If you're uncomfortable with it, you can just walk away," she bites back at him.

She has seen the cuddly couple many times in her stay, and she has been unnaturally bothered by them the whole time. So Marius really is not the right person to be casting stones about people in relationships showing public displays of affection.

"Are you still angry with me?" Marius asks a stupid question.

"Of course I am still angry with you," she replies angrily. "That does not just go away!"

Does he really think that it would be that easy for her to forgive him? To be honest, he has never had to work for her forgiveness before, so he probably had been expecting for things to continue on in the same old way – only now she has changed and her response has changed with her. Now he just has to change along with her – she fears he won't.

"You might want to apologize and give her time," 'Jolras has the right idea.

"I am sorry, Eppie," Marius gives a generic apology and walks away.

Yeah, and now he thinks that if he just keeps his distance for a few days and does not say anything else to insult her, that things would be just fine again.

Guess again Marius. Guess again.

"Fuck him and the high horse he rode in on," she mutters under her breath.

"What do you want to try next?" Enjolras gives her options.

There is so much anger and sadness in her, and the feelings just might rip her apart without someone there to make sense of it – she cannot make sense of her own feelings at this point. She just wants to forget about it for a little while.

Enjolras always wants to help her, so he can help her with this.

"I'll take some more kissing in dark corners," she tries not to look at him.

"I think I might be able to do that," his voice is hesitant, but he still takes her hand in his and lets her lead him to the nearest dark corner. "Is this good enough?"

She nods because there are no words left – and then his lips touch hers and she can pretend for a little while that she is happy and in love and safe.

Somehow 'Jolras can always make her feel safe.

AN: They are adorable and messed up and awkward. Are they not amazing? Yeah, I thought so. Let me know your favorite lines/parts/characterizations/anything!

I love you all!


	7. Chapter Six

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: I am not Victor Hugo, but the person pretending to be him on Tumblr is a douche anyway, so I'd rather be me and not own anything.

AN: Okay, so this is the biggest chapter ever. Take water breaks and make sure to occasionally fan yourself when the going gets hot.

Chapter six: Sing your pain away

Since most of his friends can sing, Marius decides that they should all have a karaoke party at a local bar called Musain. Most of the Amis already seem to know about it, since they all live relatively close to Marius and actually get the chance to spend some time with him. She gets stuffed in the backseat of Combeferre's car with Courfeyrac upfront, and R and Jehan already in the back. They are forcing her to sit on somebody's lap – and she knows that they are hoping for that someone to be Enjolras.

"I apologize," 'Jolras knows what the guys are trying to do.

Figuring that she might as well get it over with and give the idiots what they want, she gently climbs on Enjolras' lap and closes the door behind her. Combeferre starts the car, leaving her trapped, perched precariously on the lap of her fake date.

"They have already seen us make out," she shrugs, trying to get comfortable.

"That was not making out," Courfeyrac argues from the passenger seat. "That was barely enough to be called a kiss. There were no roaming hands and there was not nearly enough rubbing of body parts. Remember your inner teenager, Éponine! I'm not saying this to Enjolras 'cause he was never a normal teenager."

That earns Courfeyrac an eye-roll from the man in question.

She just makes herself more comfortable on Enjolras' lap, but he stops her from moving in the middle of a particularly nice wiggle – because she is probably making some things very difficult for him to ignore. She should have thought of that sooner.

"Don't be a shit, Courf," she rolls her eyes, trying to stay as still as she can.

There is no way that she can move into a more comfortable position without providing more friction for him to get distracted by. It would be the coup of the century for any girl to give the Marble Man a hard-on, but this has nothing to do with attraction and everything to do with simple physics and friction. It does not count.

"You can keep breathing," Enjolras is close enough to whisper this in her ear.

"I don't want to make it worse," she whispers back, trying to be mature about it.

The other guys are now trying to figure out what they have been saying to each other in these whispers, and they are not even trying to be subtle about it. Combeferre is the only one who is not leaning in closer, and that is because he is the only other sane person in the car – and because he is actually operating the moving vehicle. Courfeyrac and R are being pretty obnoxious, while Jehan appears to be composing poetry in his head.

"You lovebirds are adorable," R is being an ass again.

"Can we just have a private conversation?" she tries to ask it nicely, but she fails.

Her voice is harsh, because she is more than a little sick of the meddling in her life, and especially the meddling into her fake relationship with Enjolras. They are giving out kissing advice and pushing them onto each other as if this actually means something other than that he was the only person who had no date and she was really desperate to show Marius what he was missing. It is all fake, and they are making a big deal out of it.

"What seems to be the problem?" R is too curious for his own good.

"I know that he is not a marble man," she starts, figuring that she might as well tell them what is going on, "but something is definitely hard down here."

It is a rather crude way of describing things, she knows that much, but she thinks that it works pretty well. She wiggles a few more times, because somehow this is kind of exciting to her. There is a soft sound coming from Enjolras' direction that she quickly identifies as a groan. She guesses that he is excited too.

"Can you not, Ponine?" the groan coming from 'Jolras is part exasperated, part excited.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes for her words and for her movements, because she knows that that is where the excitement came from. "It was the best way I knew to describe it."

Jehan is the writer out of the lot of them, and he undoubtedly has lots of flowery words to use even for a situation like this – when she is stuck with some of the most immature euphemisms for a penis that she has heard while at work. Her students have a wonderful imagination and an immature brain, so just about every euphemism makes them snicker and giggle like kids. She has long ago learned to deal with that.

"I'm so proud of you, Enjolras," R quips with a grin. "You're a real boy!"

He was real before this, but the boys have a very limited understanding of what normal men are like – she doubts that this was his first erection, but it was probably the first one happening because of a girl and in front of his friends. And probably the first one that he has been called on by said girl in front of said idiot friends.

"Shut your mouth or I will shut it for you," she warns, ready to act on the threat.

"Nice girlfriend you've got there," Courfeyrac makes the wrong kind of joke.

She would have absolutely no problem with completely kicking his ass and leaving him crying for his mother and/or a medic. Enjolras normally would not approve, but he would probably go along with her on this one – only the mischievous look in his eyes tells her that he already has a much better plan to teach his friend that there are some things that he just should not say. She will wait and see for a while longer.

"Stop being asses guys," Combeferre is just done, "it's going to be bad enough in there with Marius still on Eponine's bad side. You don't want to be in that corner with him."

It seems as if the evil plan will have to be put on hold until they are inside and the karaoke frenzy starts. These guys are really passionate about everything, so she has no idea how crazy a karaoke night that should not be a contest will get. They are bound to make it into a contest anyway, and she is going to make damn sure that she will win.

"And I am shutting up now," R finally makes a good decision.

"My poem is finished," Jehan shouts, coming completely out of left field.

Of course Jehan Prouvaire has written another beautiful poem while the rest of the group is busy arguing about hard-ons and whether she is a good girlfriend or not. Jehan always seems to be able to find the poetry in any kind of situation.

"Just tell me that it is not about what is in my pants," 'Jolras has his sense of humor back. "If Marius were here," she replies to that, wanting to think of some sort of dirty or cheeky line to use, "I'd say: I happen like what is in your pants very much."

This is just hilarious to her, because she does not even know what he has been hiding in his pants. Before she felt that hard-on, she was fully convinced that he was a complete Ken doll down there, even though it is not physically possible and the mere idea of it is just ludicrous. He acts as if he is completely not interested in romance and sex, but now he has shown an actual response just to her nearness. It is interesting to her.

She has always loved a good mystery.

"I think I'm going to throw up dinner," R rolls his eyes. "At least have a convincing drunk make-out session tonight, I beg of you. Some of us are not as easily convinced as Marius, and while his girl's a blonde, I do not think that she is that stupid."

Okay, so once again R is critiquing their form, and she does not want to hear it, because she is not a bad kisser, damn it. She is a great kisser, and everyone is going to be able to see that after this night ends. Maybe even the great Enjolras can be tempted by their kisses – only she does not particularly want or need to tempt him. She just wants to prove herself as a viable romantic and sexual partner in front of Marius, and since she cannot kiss Marius, Enjolras is the next best option.

"We're here," Combeferre parks the car in front of the Musain.

"I apologize in advance for whatever embarrassment you're going to make sure 'Jolras endures," she smiles at her date briefly before shifting on his lap.

It is pretty difficult to climb off his lap without shifting too much and making the situation even worse, but she manages to do it reasonably well. The real trouble comes when she trips when getting out of the car and almost face-plants into the parking lot – only she catches herself just before she hits the ground. She has to fix her skirt after her almost fall, because it rode up, probably giving most of the guys an eyeful.

"Thanks for that," Enjolras interrupts her train of thought.

"For the look up my skirt or the apology?" she is not sure which is the right option.

Then again, when she actually takes a second to think about it she knows that Enjolras would never thank her for his ability to look up her skirt. This is still the same guy who called Patria his one true love, and she doubts that he has changed so much over the last few weeks that he suddenly is interested in what is under her skirt.

"There was a possibility to look up your skirt?" Courfeyrac is interested again.

"That is for Enjolras' eyes only," she fixes her skirt. "It sucks to be you right now."

In the meantime, Enjolras has climbed out of the car as well, and he is now standing next to her in the parking lot. He is trying not to be too obvious about using her as a shield to keep the boys from seeing the situation in his pants. The effect of this is debatable.

"The level of maturity here is just astounding," Combeferre is done with the idiocy.

"Let's just move on from this and into this bar," Enjolras holds out his hand for her.

She takes it, and she does not even think that it is odd any longer. She might have trouble getting used to not having someone whose hand she can hold when things inevitably turn out all right for her and Marius. Because things will turn out okay for her and Marius – that is why she is here, after all. That is why she made the effort.

"Are you excited to sing a sappy duet with your girlfriend?" R asks 'Jolras.

"Fuck," they have both simultaneously realized what karaoke night entails.

They are going to have to really fake some chemistry tonight, because the boys will not stand for anything less than a real make-out session and a really sappy duet that might cause cavities in the unsuspecting bystanders. She likes the way his kisses make her feel, so she can at least go along with that, but she is not so sure about them convincingly being able to fake real romantic feelings in a duet.

"I figured you two had already grasped that concept," Combeferre is laughing.

"Nope," she tells him. "I think we both decided to ignore the outside world for a bit, but that idea kind of came back to shoot us in the face. I can sing, can you sing?"

There was never enough money for lessons when she was a kid, but she still have the enviable skill to hit notes without any difficulty. She has once or twice been told that she has a lovely voice, and she still treasures those compliments.

But what about Enjolras? Will he be the person who makes her ears bleed?

"You are in for a surprise, milady," R is grinning mischievously.

"What kind of surprise?" she is not really up for dealing with any kind of surprise.

If this surprise is bad, she is going to lose her shit. All of the scheming is starting to get to her, and she needs to breathe. Still, she hopes this is a minor thing.

"You are looking at the lead in our high school musicals," R gleefully reveals.

"This I must hear more about," the revelation is not what she expected.

They are moving into the bar, which has been rented out for the occasion. She only sees familiar people around her – most of them Amis and related friends of the group, and the rest she assumes is staff. Cosette's stupid friends are not present.

"I will tell you that story myself sometime," 'Jolras promises her. "Because I fear that R will add some unnecessary embellishments to make it sound more dramatic."

"It is like you don't know me at all," R tries to fake outrage.

Only he knows that Enjolras is absolutely right about that character trait. R is the best storyteller, but his tendency to add these embellishments; that kind of kills some of the believability – if not all of it. So she'd rather hear the truth from Enjolras.

"There you all are," Marius comes to stand with them. "Did you guys get lost?"

Marius is wearing this ridiculous t-shirt that she once bought for him during a college scavenger hunt – he is obviously trying to get her friendship back without having to do all that much about it, and she is not just going to let that happen. Still, the shirt stirs the exact feelings that he wants to stir. She is lost to him again.

"Enjolras had a little problem," R snickers like a teenage boy.

"Trust me, there was nothing little about it," she licks her lips.

There were not that many distinguishing features she could figure out while staying on his lap, so there is not that much that she knows – but that hard-on could not be called little. So she has to tell them that, and give Enjolras some street cred as well.

Boys and their penises – size is not that big of a deal.

"I don't think I want to know anything about this," Marius decides to ignore them.

"I never said that I wanted to tell you anything," she bites at him.

Right now she pretty much does not want to speak to him unless it is to make him feel as hurt as he has made her feel with his secrets and his hiding. She has felt like the last choice on his list of priorities for a long time now, and her vindictive side is so ready to make him bleed for that – metaphorically, at least, because she could never physically hurt her dear Marius. He will always be her dear Marius.

"Eppie…," Marius tries to use the old nickname to get his way again.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" Enjolras pretends he has not said a thing.

The answer to his question is pretty obvious, but he is not doing this to get any new information – he is doing it to keep her from breaking apart, because somehow he can tell when no one else can. Cosette seems unhappy at the fighting too, and she is just waiting for the other woman to tell her to stop hating on her man.

"It is just a regular karaoke party," Cosette has also noticed the awkward tension and she turns away from Marius to sympathize. "The last person to sing picks the next song and the person who has to sing it. Knowing your friends, this could get interesting."

Seeing Cosette pick her side over Marius' is so surprising that her mouth refuses to form any words in response to Cosette's rather simple distraction. Cosette steps away from Marius tries to wrap his arm around her, and she cannot believe that her plan worked in mysterious ways – because is this not what she wanted to achieve? She has made Marius and Cosette fight, and she should be a lot happier about it than she is right now.

"I think I'm doomed," 'Jolras lets out a wry laugh.

"I'm still here to have your back," she fakes a smile, "and other parts."

She grabs his ass briefly, just to shock Marius into apologizing to her – or being jealous of Enjolras – and it makes him turn a little red, which she always likes. The look on Enjolras' face tells her that she is not going to get away from that so easily, which means another distraction that she can use to fake feeling okay.

"Next up is R, singing the classic Right Said Fred hit," Joe Leigh announces on stage.

"Well, at least he picked a decent song," R rushes off to the microphone.

The song he is about to sing is undoubtedly going to provide a distraction as well, especially with R's tendency to make everything just a little more than it needs to be – and she has no doubts that this applies to sexy dance moves as well.

"Prepare to be scarred for life," Marius speaks, and she chokes back a laugh.

"Your friends are such a strange bunch," Cosette says that almost fondly.

The Amis are indeed a strange bunch of men, ones who should not be so close since they are all so very different. They all have their little oddities that she cannot help but love about them – she does love those boys and she wishes that they all lived in the same city just like when they were in college. Now they spend their days on opposite coasts – most of her boys live close to Marius, while Enjolras and her are the only two who moved away to another coast. Enjolras is the only Ami who lives close enough to her.

"But they are just so loveable," she rolls her eyes at R dancing on stage.

"I am starting to see that too," Cosette has a soft smile on her face.

Joe Leigh comes around to their group, probably to talk to her, because they have not seen each other in a very long time. He clearly wants to give her a hug, but he seems to be debating the odds of finding any germs on her – her dear boy.

"That microphone has to be covered in germs," Joe gets out his pocket bottle of hand sanitizer, the one that he takes absolutely everywhere. "Am I turning red? I feel like I'm turning red. And something is itching. Oh, what if it's swine flu?"

Cosette has no idea what is happening, judging by the flabbergasted look on his face that she sees often when people first encounter Joe Leigh. Most of the others are just shaking their heads and laughing at him, because they are already used to his antics – and they have already found their respective ways of dealing with Joe. Combeferre is the only one who is knowledgeable enough about medical issues to deal with the actual facts, but the rest of them have learned to deal with Joe in their own way.

"He is a bit of a hypochondriac," she explains it to Cosette, who is still surprised.

"I am just very susceptible to diseases," Joe argues against that. "Do you know that-"

Joe is cut off by both Marius and Enjolras, because they both know what happens if they let him give his little speech to people. There has been too much trouble with this.

"Let's not scare them all off with your stories," 'Jolras tells him with a grin.

"You look perfectly healthy to me Joe," Marius reassures Joe with the ease of someone who has had to do this many times before. "There's nothing to worry about."

It is usually very handy to have a couple of med students around – at least, it was when they were all in college – but now that most of the boys have graduated and Combeferre and Joe have to work at the hospital all of the time it gets more frustrating, especially when their Joly finds out about yet another contagious disease.

The nickname of Joly is an old one, but it still makes her giggle every time.

"Have you and the other girls sung anything yet," she looks for other women.

"There are no other girls here tonight," Cosette speaks with a casual shrug that belies how uncomfortable she really is. "My friends are not that into the karaoke dive bar scene. Besides, I wanted to get to know some of Marius' friends a little better."

That is timed perfectly with an extremely suggestive hip thrust in R's ever more dramatic stage performance, which does give Cosette a bit of pause.

"Be careful what you wish for," she tells the other woman with a chuckle.

"The singing has actually been pretty good so far," Cosette shrugs with the ease of someone who is already used to these antics. "My ears aren't bleeding yet."

She had already decided to hate Cosette for all eternity, but now she is starting to sound like an actual decent person and the unwanted guilt creeps up on her. Hating a decent person is always the wrong thing to do – and she is the one who has to tell the kids at her school to look beyond a crappy first impression to see the actual person behind that one meeting. Now she has turned into one of her students, and she hates it.

"They are all supposedly pretty good singers," she is still withholding judgment.

"How about your handsome boyfriend?" Cosette teases her. "Is he any good?"

He is allegedly very good in bed – she is the only always making that joke about him.

However, this is definitely not what Cosette wants to know about him, so she will keep the subject relatively harmless and talk about the mythical singing abilities of Gabriel Enjolras. She has very little to say on the topic, though.

"He refuses to sing for me," she pouts at the man in question. "It's very disappointing."

"Stop it," is his reply. "You're not singing for me either."

This would all mean so much more if they were actually in a relationship. Now they are just two people who barely knew each other trying to keep up this story of them meaning so much more than they do. These secrets are silly, but they are oh so normal for the practical strangers that they were about a week ago.

"Enjolras, you're next," R shouts into the microphone. "You're going to love this song."

"I highly doubt that," Enjolras replies in a much softer voice.

Anything that R Grant has chosen for Gabriel Enjolras to sing is going to be a terrible embarrassment; it is only a question of what kind of embarrassment it will be and just how terrible it will be. For that, they only have to wait to find out.

"Your gorgeous girlfriend can come sing it with you," R motions to her.

"That's two embarrassments in one," she whispers to Enjolras, not trying to be kind.

R is intent on embarrassing them, she knows that much, because their friend thinks that they will never be able to pull off a romantic duet of any kind. This just makes her all the more determined to be as fucking adorable as she can be – which might just be R's original goal in making them do this. He is sneaky like that.

"At least we will be going down together," her fake boyfriend is not very happy.

"That is such a romantic thing for you to say," she teases him in return.

He is intent on seeing only the downsides of this, and while she knows that there are many downsides about this silly idea, she also is determined not to let the Amis win this round by default. She is always going to try to give them hell and show them that they are more than those boys ever thought that they could be. She is always determined on showing people that their misconceptions about her are wrong; because she is so much more than people know of her – there is always more under the surface.

"Shall we, miss?" he holds out his hand for her to take.

"Of course, kind sir," she does a quick curtsey and then takes his hand.

They walk to the stage together, holding hands. The Amis are all loudly cheering for the both of them, just waiting for the embarrassment to start – because somehow they already know the song that R would pick. She has some suspicions that the decision about the song has been made long before this moment, and that R was not the only person involved in that decision. They all decided this together.

"Good luck to the two of you," R is already laughing at the both of them.

"I know places where they will never find your body," she threatens him in return.

R cues up the song, and it is "You're The One That I Want" from Grease. She is now counting the many ways in which she can kill R with just the use of that microphone that he wants her to sing into. She has gotten up to about fifteen – several of those ways including the cord – before she realizes that R has already run off.

"I think I will have to kill him," she whispers to Enjolras.

"Not if I get to him first," is his reply. "I'm just happy there are no costumes."

Though she would love to see him in a tight shirt and/or a leather jacket, she is sure that he is never going to be comfortable like that. The music starts playing and she grabs one of the microphones and tosses another microphone into Enjolras' direction.

"Tell me about it, stud," she takes full advantage of that line.

"I got chills," the voice comes out of Enjolras' mouth is so fucking hot that she barely knows how she can follow this act. "They're multiplying. And I'm losing control, 'cause the power you're supplying, it's electrifying."

The Amis are cheering them on and laughing like idiots. She is still surprised that Enjolras is a pretty darn great singer, so she decides on payback for him because he could have told her that before they started singing. Now she is going to go all out for this number – that is the only way to escape humiliation.

"You better shape up," she pouts her lips, "'cause I need a man, and my heart is set on you. You better shape up; you better understand, to my heart I must be true."

Enjolras appears to be surprised to find out how good she is, and how much she is getting into it – but when he spots her winking, he just follows along. He lets her push and pull him around the stage, and he follows along like a good little boy. She has managed to train him very well in the short time that she has been offered.

"Nothing left, nothing left for me to do," they sing together, and they sound good. "You're the one that I want – ooh, ooh, ooh, honey. The one that I want, ooh, ooh, ooh honey. The one that I want, ooh, ooh, ooh, the one I need. Oh yes indeed."

They are going right along with the song, even doing some of the cheesy dance moves from the old movie she has seen so many times. The Amis are kind of disappointed there is not more embarrassment on their side, which makes it better.

"If you're filled with affection," she wiggles her finger and motions for him to come over to her, "you're too shy to convey, meditate in my direction. Feel your way."

She runs her hands over body, trying to follow the choreography that she already knows, and also trying to make it really obvious that she is going to be all over Enjolras the second the music stops – and maybe even before that. His eyes are following her every move, and she knows that they are plenty convincing right now.

"I better shape up, cause you need a man," 'Jolras is skeptical of this need.

"I need a man," she echoes with a roll of her eyes, "who can keep me satisfied."

She is now obviously seducing him on stage, and he is going along with it. The Amis are flabbergasted. This is not what they wanted to happen here, but it is what she made happen on this very stage, with the help of her Marble Man and partner in crime.

"I better shape up, if I'm gonna prove," he is acting quite well.

"You better prove, that my faith is justified," she replies, now with his hands on her hips.

Yes, they are fucking adorable on stage together, and they are about to get hotter than they have ever been, and that will be for everyone to see. She just hopes that he is prepared to go this far with her at this precise moment. Her fingers are metaphorically crossed as she lets herself be pulled into his safe arms.

"Are you sure?" he has to ask the obvious question.

"Cause I'm sure down deep inside," they stay in each other's arms, singing it only to each other. "You're the one that I want – ooh, ooh, ooh, honey. The one that I want, ooh, ooh, ooh honey. The one that I want, ooh, ooh, ooh, the one I need. Oh yes indeed."

It is time for the grand finale, while the song is still going. She has decided that the grand finale will be this kiss that is hot enough to set the entire room on fire, and she is fully prepared to make him work to achieve that kiss. Since she keeps getting closer, she has a feeling that he already knows what is coming – but since he does not appear to be tensing in any way he is actually going to go for it along with her.

There are some repetitions of the chorus left, but they let themselves get swept away, dropping the microphones as they embrace. Their lips find each other with ease now, and he grabs hold of her ass, letting her wrap her legs around his waist as their tongues tangle and dance. Her skin feels like it is tight and hot, and the friction between their bodies is starting to drive her absolutely wild. She is rocking her body against his, noticing that there is a now familiar hardness where their bodies meet. She is climbing out of her skin – because the physical chemistry is not a problem between her and Enjolras, and if he keeps sucking on her neck like that, she might have an embarrassing moment in public. She is already moaning a little too much, and not faking it.

"You win," R interrupts the two of them. "Okay, just quit it already. You win!"

They break apart finally at that last bit, the both of them still breathing heavy. Enjolras' hair is a mess, and she can feel that her top is pushed up, revealing her tanned stomach to the entire bar. That and most of her legs – because her skirt seems to have a persistent problem with staying down. She cannot look at him, but she still stays close to him, because his 'problem' should not be revealed to his friends.

"That is all I wanted to hear," she manages to see after some deep breaths.

"Who are we going to pick next?" Enjolras is just as flustered as she is.

The evil smile that they share an evil smile as they look over the people in the bar is a frightening thing to behold for most of the Amis. Each and every single one of their friends looks pretty scared of the both of them, and that is just what she wanted to accomplish. So she is definitely happy about that.

"Courfeyrac, get your butt down here," Enjolras orders. "You're up next."

It is obviously revenge for him being an idiot in the car. Bad luck for him, but she is definitely not going to feel sorry for him, because he dug his own grave.

"You should have just killed me outright," Courfeyrac says as he reaches them.

"That is not how we operate," she replies and walks away from the stage.

Courfeyrac should know that she would not just let this go without repercussions for him. And for now, these repercussions are limited to an embarrassing song choice at a karaoke party – but the next time he tries to be a dick, he is going to have bigger and badder things to worry about. She can promise that.

"You two did really well up there," Cosette smiles at her. "That was wonderful."

Yeah, she can actually be proud of herself for that performance – and she is not just talking about the singing. The kiss was one of the hottest things she has ever experienced, so Enjolras is definitely getting a fake Oscar nomination in the mail come winter. Well, she will think of some other things as well, because she still cannot believe that he would be able to kiss her so passionately and then turn back into the same old Marble Man that everybody knows. She is impressed with her grasshopper.

"The song is super cheesy," Marius is being a shit again.

"Do not pretend you haven't seen the movie several times," she knows him much better than he thinks, so she has secrets to share. "And the sequel too."

There is a pointed silence from Marius, which is definitely surprising Cosette. Please, she has made him watch those movies several times when they were both in high school, and she knows for a fact that he knew some of the songs by heart back then.

"Guess who is getting subject to a movie musical marathon?" Cosette is cheery.

"I am guessing it is not going to be Enjolras," this does not make Marius very happy.

Oh no, she has completely different and interesting – albeit fake – plans for Enjolras after this positively dazzling party ends. If any one of the boys is so inclined, she will be able to list every single one of those plans until they beg not to hear anymore because their brains are filled with the mental pictures. She has lots of plans.

"Enjolras is the one who is getting lucky tonight," she promises with a big smile.

"I am already lucky," his reply is almost absentminded, but also too corny.

This just does not sound like something that he would ever say, unless he was either being terribly sarcastic or he was being forced to in some way. Either way, it just does not sound like him at all, and it might give the entire game away if she acts like this is even remotely normal for the two of them. She has no idea what is wrong with him at this precise moment, but she will forget about it if he can act normal again.

"That was too cheesy, 'Jolras," she rolls her eyes at him.

"Yeah, that was a little too much," he agrees, standing close to her.

They kiss each other briefly, because they have to keep the charade going – kissing is a good way to do that, since they have found that it works for them. She is surprised to find out that it is starting to become normal for them to do this. There are no awkward moments in their kiss anymore; she now knows exactly what to do to make him moan or to make his pants tighten. She just has to tug at his lower lip or scrape her nails near his nape. Also, she would not be surprised if he knows just how to turn her on.

"We must sing together later, Éponine," Cosette speaks as they break apart.

"Sure," she says before even taking the slightest bit of time to think about what she is actually saying. "That is, if the boys can refrain from picking something terrible for us."

Knowing the boys like she does, she can easily say that there is no way that those guys are going to let the only girls walk away from karaoke night without getting them to do an embarrassing duet together. Hell, Cosette does not even know the guys that well and she can tell that the embarrassment level is very high this night.

"That might be asking too much of them," Cosette is laughing with her now.

"On behalf of my friends, I feel insulted," Marius interrupts the nice moment.

Marius, the asshole, just has to interrupt the one moment that she is actually getting along with his formerly secret fiancée. She is still so angry with him, and she is not even remotely charmed by him wanting to enter into the conversation all of the time. She does not want to talk to him, and he should really learn to respect that. She always thought that he was the nicest and most decent guy.

"Well, you go on and do that," now she just wants him to shut up.

"Can you go and get me a drink, dear?" Cosette is trying to keep him away as well.

The girl who should be her enemy, the one and only Cosette is actually helping her out, and that surprises her. Marius walks away from the both of them and Enjolras quickly follows him, making a non-verbal promise to get her a drink as well with a few simple hand gestures. He knows her well enough to get her some real booze.

"Thank you, lover," she calls after him.

"I'm sorry for whatever stupid thing Marius said to you," Cosette surprises her again.

It is a noble gesture on Cosette's behalf, and she feels a rush of fondness towards the other woman that makes her cringe at her own feelings. She should not like Cosette in any way, and now that she does – at least a little – she is even angrier with herself.

"He is the one who should be apologizing," she gently reminds the other woman.

"I know," Cosette nods and grins. "But I think you also know that he usually just waits the anger out and hopes that will solve everything. He's a dolt that way."

Her description is pretty spot on, and she both loves and hates that. She loves that one of Marius' girlfriends is finally calling him on his shit – but she hates that the girlfriend in question is not she. She had always thought that she would be the first girlfriend Marius had who was different than the others. She did not entertain any other possibilities.

"You know him better than I thought you did," she ponders, feeling irrationally hurt.

"Because he never told you about me?" Cosette understands her too well. "Well, I think we both found out this week that he is a lot more secretive than we thought he was."

That is most certainly true. She does not believe that he has ever kept such a big secret from her in their entire lives – most of which have been lived together. They told each other just about everything until they started building this house of cards – and she does not even know how long ago that was, because Marius has not told her even the slightest thing about Cosette. She does not even know how long he has lied to her.

"How long have you been together?" she asks the painful question herself.

"We've been seeing each other for almost two years," Cosette seems apologetic.

Two years? It has been just about two whole years of lies? So when he reminded her of their promise several months ago he was lying? All those words were lies?

"So he's been lying to me for that long?" that is definitely not her voice cracking and breaking. "He promised me… Oh forget it. I can't talk about this anymore."

Marius is the only guy who would never lie to her – he promised her that too, many years ago. It came years before he even bothered to make that other fake promise to be her forever if they could not find anyone. Guess dear 'Jolras was right about him: he did want to have a second option available if things did not work out.

Fuck! How could she have been so wrong about Marius for so fucking long?

"Here's your drink, love," there is her knight in shining armor on his white horse.

"Thanks," she does not even take the time to look at her drink before downing it.

The burn making its way down her throat feels comfortable and safe. She wonders if she can make Enjolras get her another drink, or if she should just go and sit at the bar for the rest of the night, to save her friends the trip back and forth.

"What did you say to her?" Enjolras immediately turns on Cosette.

Wow, that is probably a really mean thing to do, but the righteous fury that is Gabriel Enjolras simply will not be tamed. She is not even going to try to stop him.

"We talked about Marius and his secrets," Cosette explains.

"Of course you did," Enjolras is not very happy with her.

The distance from her current position to the bar seems way too large for her to consider, and Marius is standing between her and her goal. She is going to have to persuade her dear fake date to go get her that second drink.

"Can you get me another drink, 'Jolras?" she pouts at him, hoping the trick will work.

"I was thinking about going to find a dark corner first," he offers another option.

Making out with Enjolras is a perfect way to get distracted from the feelings currently churning in her gut. Maybe she will even be able to get an orgasm out of it – because that always helps her feel a lot better. She would feel a lot more ashamed of letting herself use him like this if she was not so damn angry at everything and everyone.

A twenty-year friendship has just turned into a big fat lie.

"Let's do it," her enthusiasm is back. "Come on, lover!"

She practically drags him away, because he is offering her a way out of the bar and she just really wants to be distracted from her feelings at this point.

"Slow down, Ponine," he says as they move past the boys. "There is no rush."

"I want to feel the rush," she says when she finally feels the summer air.

It would just be so easy to grab a hold of him and not let go until the tension in her body has dissipated completely. She can feel it in her bones, running through her bloodstream and churning deep down in her gut, coming up as bile that she cannot keep down. All of the things that she used to believe in are gone, and while she should be pretty used to that, she now learns that she is still that little girl who learned that her Mom and Dad were by no means perfect. She is twenty-eight years old and once again she is being left behind all on her own. She should be stronger than this.

"I should have fallen in love with someone else," she is not even really speaking to him at this point, because that would mean that she was confiding in him. "Marius is just about the worst option I could have picked. I know you can't pick, because that's simply not possible. Still, I should have known better. I always know better."

Things have never been normal for her, so she is stupid for believing that her life could suddenly turn into a romantic story in which Marius just suddenly realizes how much he has loved her all of his life – and then he takes her away from all of the pain until she is finally happy again. But that's stupid, because that will never happen. Fairytales are sexist anyway, and she can just work to make herself happy – even though that has not worked so far. Though she doubts that has anything to do with Marius. It is more closely related to a shitty past and a refusal to deal with things.

"And I should not be telling you all of this," she chokes. "You can just go back inside and tell them some lame excuse about me breaking up with you or whatever. I can't do it."

The lies are just another thing that is bad in her life, and she really does not want to be dragging Enjolras down with her. He deserves a lot better than this, and she has no doubt that her stupid ideas have done nothing but make him uncomfortable.

"Slow down," Enjolras urges her yet again. "Tell me what the problem is."

"Cosette is not a bad person," she feels so terrible. "I wanted her to be a bad person."

It would have been so much easier had Cosette been a bitch who appeared to have arrived straight out of a high school movie – but the other woman is kind and gentle, and while that makes her feel stifled and patronized at times, she also appreciates that Cosette would even bother with her after everything that has happened.

"Marius is the one who hurt you, not Cosette," that reminder still stings so badly.

"Marius is my friend," she needs him to understand. "Marius is my only friend."

This is what she has been telling herself for most of her life, and now she is broken because she does not even have him anymore. She has her job and she can live on that, and she has her siblings when they have time for her, and that is all of the love she will need from now on. She can be perfectly content with her life again, rather than hurting over Marius the idiot. She can be a lot better off without him.

"He is not your only friend anymore," Enjolras must be losing it, because he is just telling crazy and random stories at this point. "I can get all of the Amis out here one by one to tell you that they all consider you a friend. I would be first in line."

And after all of this, this fancy lawyer guy still wants to be her friend. She must really have him checked for masochistic tendencies, because she is bad news for a guy like him; he is all celibacy and smarts and strength. They have more in common than they originally thought, but can they really build a friendship on this past week?

"Ugh, I am not weak," she takes another deep breath. "I am not. Let's go back in there."

She steels herself, taking cleansing breaths and waiting for him to follow behind her, as the building gets ever closer – or they get closer to the building, really.

"Just tell me that you heard what I said," he stops her from walking away.

"I heard you," is all that she can say to him at this point.

There is nothing else to say right now because she still needs to process what he means with all of this. She just wants to get back inside, finish the night – meaning that she will stay a bit longer and then make up an excuse to head back early for some reason, which most of the boys will see as her wanting to hook up with Enjolras. It all works out.

"You might want to make us look a little more debauched," 'Jolras offers up a pretty good suggestion. "Since we have been away to make out in dark corners."

He makes a good point. She has barely managed to fix her outfit from their last make-out session, so she is reasonably good – and the hickey that he has undoubtedly left on her neck is a credit to his passionate nature. He is the one who basically looks like a choirboy even after all of these imagined shenanigans between the two of them. No man walks away from her looking that put together, so she has to do something about that.

"It would be my pleasure," she shoots him a flirtatious look.

She will take any excuse to mess up those darling curls – she is starting to have a real thing for those crazy curls, but not for the man attached to them. She still has trouble understanding Enjolras, and why he is letting her pull at his shirt and mess up his hair again – but she will let it go for now because this is definitely not the right time to be thinking about all of these things. She has enough on her plate as is, and adding Enjolras to this mess is probably only going to make it worse.

"I have your back," he makes a solemn promise that makes her feel safe.

"Is that a promise?" she teases, moving her hips in time with her strut.

Okay, it is a stupid and juvenile joke, but it is working for her, so she really does not give a shit about the frustrated groan coming from the man following her.

Yes, she can make it through this day.

AN: Take a deep breath… That was epic chapter six! As always, tell me your favorite parts/lines/thoughts/anything in your comments/reviews! I love all of you people, even if you don't review and only lurk. So yes, I'm talking to all of you!


	8. Chapter Seven

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: Seriously? I still don't own a thing. I wish I did – that means I wouldn't be pretty much broke…

AN: So, now this chapter is relatively short compared to some others. Still, there is a LOT going on here.

Chapter seven: Putting the big girl panties on

Her best underwear has been located in a special baggie in her suitcase, and she is getting ready to blow some minds – hopefully mostly Marius'.

She is going to make him regret that he ever hurt her like this – by making him want all of the things that he can no longer have. He can never have her again, because she is not sure if she can ever forgive him for misleading her like that.

"Are you dressed yet," Enjolras calls out from their bedroom.

"I thought the point was me not being dressed," she shouts back from her spot in front of the bathroom mirror. "This is the bachelor party after all. Clothed women not allowed."

Once again, she has made the great Enjolras really uncomfortable with her lackadaisical approach towards wearing clothing. Her tendency to sleep in a sports bra and panties has disturbed him from the beginning, and now that they have been sharing a bed for over a week, it just might be getting to him. She is not bothered by it; she is mostly amused by his response of covering himself up every single night.

"I do not even want to know," he sounds like he is rolling his eyes at her.

As she looks herself over one last time in the gigantic mirror, she knows that she has to freak Enjolras out by walking into their bedroom dressed just like this – wearing only her sexy underwear and heels. She just has to judge the effect.

So she checks herself just one more time in the mirror before throwing the door open and revealing herself in her current barely dressed state.

"What the hell are you doing?" she gets the exact response that she was expecting.

"That is not the effect that I am hoping to get with this," she teases gently.

She is not a model, she knows that much about herself, but somehow his outright rejection really hurts her feelings – it seems as if he cannot even stand to look at her, and she knows that she has really crossed a line with him. She never should have thought that it was funny to freak him out like this, but she cannot back down now that she has made that stupid decision, so she has to stick with it until the end.

"Why are you still dressed like this?" he cannot look at her anymore.

"I am just testing," she sits down next to him on the gigantic bed.

If Marius were to come in at this point, he would probably be really surprised, and also really impressed with Enjolras for getting her mostly naked on the bed. The other boys would probably have an even better response to this situation, because they know that they are faking this relationship – and doing it quite well, if she does say so herself. He has been a constant surprise over the course of this week, and he has been a pretty good partner in crime right until now. He seems more uncomfortable with this plan than he was when they first formed it, and she has absolutely no idea why.

"Well, maybe you should test this on someone else," he finally looks at her.

"Sure," she puts on her sarcastic bitch voice. "You just call over the boys and we'll have a little pageant. Are you serious? I am supposed to be your girlfriend, so you're supposed to be the only guy who sees me in stuff like this."

That is one of the pretty obvious things about a faked relationship. If Marius finds out that she had other boys around when wearing this, there would be no way that he would still believe their charade – and everything would have been for nothing. She will not be able to handle all of this if it has meant nothing in the long run.

"If I'm the only one seeing you like this," Enjolras turns into a skeptical shit, much to her surprise, "you are going to have some serious problems coming out of that cake in front of everyone in the Amis and not letting them see you like this."

Well, she is not going to wear a fucking burka when she comes out of that cake. It defeats the purpose of the entire endeavor. Ugh, her sarcasm is going to be the death of someone, and she figures that it might be him. They are not getting along, and she has no idea why he can suddenly be so angry at something he used to support.

"I thought you were going to be supportive of my plans," she shoots back at him.

"I am supportive," he groans. "I am just pointing out that your logic is very flawed."

It is not as if she is going out just wearing her underwear; she does have little more class than that. And when she says a little, she really means that.

"I'm going to be wearing my sexy dress over this," she announces, now looking for said dress in the closet. "So I'll have decent coverage. Well, when I say decent…"

The dress is now located and she knows that it will not leave very much to the imagination. She is going to have to take off the bra, because there is no way she can wear a dress with that little back to it and that much cleavage and not have most of her bra on display. Oh yes, the bra has got to go.

"Turn around for a bit," she tells him before slipping off her bra.

"I still don't see why you need to do this," he now has his back to her.

She slips on the dress with easy, and while the length of the fabric would only work with heels, the splits up the side of the dress show off a lot of dress. Her red dress is her beautiful dress, but this is her va-va-voom Sexy Dress ™, that never comes out of the closet unless she really has to give it her all. So, it has been gathering dust for years until this very occasion, when it finally gets its day to really shine.

"I'm as decent as I am going to be," she announces, fiddling with the clasps in the front.

"This is what you call decent?" is his surprised reaction when seeing her again.

While the front of her halter dress is being held together by a clasp underneath her breasts, the back of it is tied together in her neck and in the middle of her back. The ties are the only thing covering the expanse of her back, and the cleavage is cut to below the clasp on the front. And because she is taking a provocative pose, most of her legs are showing as well. He appears to be completely scandalized.

"This is what I call the most decent a girl at a bachelor party gets," she poses for him.

"You shouldn't do this, Ponine," he gets serious with her. "Please just stay home."

Why would she give up on Marius now? She loves him still, even though he has hurt her – that is probably the most painful realization of all. She can boast about how she does not need him and she can do it without him and that she hates him now, but she never will because he will always be her Marius. She is pretty sure that she is going to be in love with him for the rest of her life – she just has to learn how to deal with that.

"I am not giving up," she has to explain what this means to her.

"Not going does not mean that you are giving up," he is basically pleading with her to stay behind. "It means that you respect yourself enough to not be made into a joke – these girls in the cakes are treated like jokes. You are better than that."

While it is nice to hear that he has a high opinion of her, she does not want him to keep her from completing her plans. She has to do this, because this is the only way that she can show Marius she is also a woman – and not just his little friend.

It is the only way, right?

"Is this really so important to you?" she has to ask.

"I promise that we are not giving up," he gives her no direct answer. "We will keep on making Marius pay for hurting you. But just not tonight, okay. Wait until tomorrow."

When all else fails, she can try this again in a less public setting. She does not really want the Amis to see her like this, right? It would just be way too awkward – not that she could not deal with awkward situations like this one. Yeah, she would be able to manage something like this just fine, because she is smart and capable.

"Okay," she reluctantly agrees to his one demand.

"I will be back early," he promises her in return. "I won't be drinking anyway, and I doubt that I will have a lot of fun at a shindig like this one anyway."

His use of vocabulary can be so wonderful sometimes that she almost forgets that she is supposed to be at least a little bit mad at him. He acts like a total stick in the mud but he is a master at using the right words in most situations.

"I love that you said shindig," she giggles at him, sitting on the bed in her dress.

"It is because of my love for space westerns," he returns, looking quite dapper in his suit.

She then gets up and basically pushes him out of the door, because she does not want him to be late for the party on her account – even though he is definitely not looking forward to it all that much and he would probably rather be late. He almost gets his jacket caught in the door, and she almost admonishes him for wearing such a fancy suit to a bachelor party, because it will only get dirty. Then she stops in her tracks, because she understands that this is his battle suit, the one that makes him strong.

"Make good choices," she shouts after him through a closed door.

There is no response, which she was already expecting.

Now there is nothing left for her to do but to change back into her sleeping clothes and wait for Enjolras to come back from the party. Really, there is literally nothing to do in their room. She has not brought any books with her, figuring that she would not need them to keep herself occupied, and the guestroom that they are staying in does not have a TV. She can take a nice, long bath, but that is just about it.

Her beautiful Sexy Dress ™ must once again gather dust in the back of her closet, because she probably will not have another perfect situation in which to wear it. It covers too little to wear it to any kind of formal education, but it is too formal to wear it to any other occasion. Really, she either has to have a slutty theme party, or she is going to have to find another cake to climb out of – which will probably never happen, unless she takes up stripping as a second job. And she is never doing that again.

It was just the one time for her, and unless the love of her life asks her to do it for him – in the privacy of their bedroom – she is not doing that again.

"All by myself," she sings softly, trying not to do a dramatic reenactment.

This just makes her feel like prom night all over again, and that thought is what makes everything turn around again. She is not going to be that wallflower again.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

It is not hard to get to the same club that the men are supposed to be at. Enjolras told her the name of the place when he was still supporting the cake idea, and the name is different enough for there to be only one place of that name.

Of course she is still wearing the Sexy Dress ™. She is going to the bachelor party, whether Enjolras wants her there or not – this has nothing to do with him anyway. It is all about Marius and about her getting him back, and maybe getting him to accept the position as the love of her life and the father of her future children.

Their kids would be the most adorable awkward shits to ever live on the planet, because they would have his eyes and his adorable freckles, and maybe they would have her dark hair or her stubbornness. She could live with them being miniatures of Marius, though.

"No, Ponine," Enjolras has already found her, and he did it so quickly.

"Just let me go, Enjolras," she demands of him. "Let me do what I want here."

Her arms are locked in his grasp, and she is trying not to feel trapped, but it is getting harder by the second. She knows that he would not hurt her, but his crowding her is still terrible enough to possibly trigger some terrible flashbacks. She needs to get away from him, and she needs to do it now. She needs to get her business over and done with.

"I do not want you to embarrass yourself," he keeps a hold of her.

"I am not going to embarrass myself," she tells him, trying to make him let go. "And even if I did embarrass myself, which I doubt, you would still have no say over my actions. I can do what I please, and I do not need you to hold me back."

His touch is somewhat normal to her, which is why she is not sticking her stiletto heels in his foot and watching him bleed like a stuck pig. It would be easy enough to get away – because she always has an exist strategy – but she will hear him out for a few more minutes before she tries plans A through M. Some of those plans end with him down for the count because she kicked him in the nuts, so he best be on his guard.

"You are only going to make it worse," he wraps his arms around her.

"How am I making things worse?" she asks, close enough to whisper in his ear.

Somehow the fight just fades from her when he is so close and wrapping his arms around her – giving her the option to escape, but not wanting her to do so. Right now, she feels safe enough to not even want to run away. Still, he is constantly arguing with her, and she hates that about him. She just wants to go on with the plan.

"This is not going to make Marius love you," he continues to argue with her.

"How would you even know, Marble Man?" she uses the nickname to her advantage.

Him being known as the Marble Man by practically everyone pretty much makes her argument for her. It tells everyone that he does not show feelings – which might be an exaggeration – and that he does not know a thing about romantic love. That last bit is perfectly true, because he will never understand how she feels about Marius. She wonders if he will ever be able to love as freely as she has always loved Marius – without anything of herself held back and without any reservations. Enjolras is still so reserved and distant – the fact that he needs her to call him by his last name says enough.

"Marius loves Cosette," he is really trying to bring her down.

"You don't know that," she is sure that Marius will love her as well.

Why else would she be the only person that he has chosen over everyone else? He chose her over his girlfriend in high school, and when they were in college he told his grandfather that he might as well start accepting her presence in his life, because they were never going to stop being in each other's lives. She has always thought that this meant that she was always going to be the most important person in his life.

"Yes, I do know that," he gives her a pitying look that makes the hair on the back of her neck stand up. "He told me that. He told me that he is happy that you found someone too, because he does not want you to be so alone all of the time."

That is a stupid thing for Marius to say, because he should know how happy they could be if only he could see her as more than just his old friend Eppie. And even if she does not have a significant other that does not mean that she is alone. But Marius now thinks that she has Enjolras, and that his chance is gone.

Should she fake a break-up with Enjolras? Would that do the trick?

"You're lying," she wants to raise her voice without being noticed.

"I'm not lying," he once again looks on her with that terrible look of pity.

The very second that she starts distancing herself from him, the look of pity turns harsher and into something that is much more appealing to her. They are now both hostile, even though to the rest of the world they appear to be wrapped in a sweet lover's embrace. The dichotomy would make her smile if she felt even remotely interested in being happy ever again – she cannot do that without Marius.

"Marius would never say that," she knows Marius better than anyone in the world.

"He did say that," 'Jolras has to burst that bubble. "He just said that to me tonight."

Wow, that is a very convenient excuse for him to have – Marius having said that on the one night that she was not there with him. She cannot believe this, but she also knows that Marius would never say this to her face – hoping Enjolras would pass on the message to her because he is too scared and too much of a shithead.

"You must be drunk," she is on a desperate quest to make his words untrue.

"I have only had the one beer," his response is normal. "R made me have at least one."

R is an idiot who is undoubtedly playing a stupid trick on him – she would not doubt if Enjolras has consumed at least three beers already, and with his undoubtedly low tolerance for alcohol, she does not envy the boys the rest of their night. She doubts that he gets fun when he gets drunk, so it should get interesting.

"I honestly doubt it was just the one," she rolls her eyes, "but I'll try to believe it."

That only seems to make things worse, because now he thinks that she no longer believes him – when she usually does, because he is a person one can depend on for just about everything that is not related to romance and/or love.

"I am very grateful for your faith in me," he is sarcastic and dark.

"I am only saying it to get you to walk the hell away," she decides to be really honest with him and get it all the hell over and done with. "And do it right now!"

He should just give up on her now – like everyone else always does – and let her make her own damn mistakes. She is starting to fear that this night was one big mistake, but there is just no way back now that she is already here and wearing her dress and ready to charm people into doing what she wants them to do. She is ready for this

"Please don't Eponine," his voice actually breaks. "If you won't do it for me, then do it for yourself. You cannot throw a twenty-year-old friendship down the drain over this. I know he's a bastard and that he really hurt you, but this is not the way to win him back. This is the guaranteed way to make Cosette keep him away from you for the rest of his life. They will never be able to forgive you for it if you go through with it."

Is he really right about this? Can he really be right about this? She does not want to lose Marius forever – even though she secretly fears that she has already lost him.

"I can't just let him go," she confesses what giving up would mean.

"I understand that," he keeps trying. "That's why we'll think of a new plan tomorrow."

Wait, he is still going to go through with her other plans to piss off Marius? She is starting to doubt some of the plans that she had to get rid of Cosette – because the other woman did not know that Marius was hers first. She still wants Marius very badly, but she is not going to do anything specifically to Cosette.

"I can't lose him, 'Jolras," she needs to say it again. "He is my best friend."

"I promise that I'll help you," he crosses his heart, and then shrugs off his suit jacket and holds it out for her. "Now here, put this on. You're probably freezing."

Since they are still inside, she doubts that she will actually freeze, but he probably wants her to go back to the house soon – and that taxi ride might get really cold if she does not have anything to cover herself with. Also, knowing cabbies as she does, it will also get really awkward. It is a sweet gesture, but she still finds it difficult to accept it.

"You just can't stop trying to be my knight in shining armor, can you?" she asks.

"I just don't want you to catch something," he jokes, acting innocent. "We'd never be able to get Joe near you ever again. That would just make things terribly awkward."

He is bullshitting her to stay away from the topic of his knight-like tendencies. Sure, Joe would be a pain to be near with the sniffles, but she knows Enjolras well enough to know that this is his silly way of protecting her from harm – even though it won't make that much of a difference for the pain in her heart, he will still bother to protect her from the simplest things. She is torn between finding it adorable or finding it insulting.

"Oh, I am sure that that is the reason," she does not believe a single thing about that.

"Haven't you heard?" his face turns quite dark. "I am not a very nice guy."

There is more distance between the two of them now, because she still cannot really believe what he just said. How can anyone tell the guy who would at least try to save anyone from his or her fate that he is not a nice guy? How can he even believe that he is not a good person when all he has ever done is try to help her?

"Whoever said that is going to meet with my fist," her voice is harsh as well.

"I will tell them that you said that," now there is the hint of a smile on his face.

She has now unleashed her defensive and protective instincts, and there is no way that he is ever going to be rid of her now. Once she feels the need to take someone under her wing, that need is there pretty much forever. He is now doomed.

"Do that," she is not even joking about this any longer.

"Let me give you some money for a cab home," he will not let her say no.

The money is in her hands before she even has the time to refuse the offer, and she decides to let this go this one time, to prove to him that he is a good person – and he always will be in her eyes. Still, she feels that she cannot just leave him behind like this, without as much as a thank you. She is terrible at saying the words, but she wants to stay in his comforting embrace for just a bit longer so that they can both feel better.

"One dance?" she does not want to leave without at least having danced once.

"All right," he acquiesces rather quickly, "one last dance for the lady."

They both stay still, waiting for the other person to make the first move for this. They are not normally like this, but one emotional conversation and they are terrified.

"I am not a lady," she scoffs loudly, "especially not in this dress."

She still feels more than a little exposed now, so she wraps his jacket more tightly around her and steps in closer to him to get ready for their final dance. He wraps his arms around her waist awkwardly, and she smiles as she lands her hands on the back of his neck, looping her hands around his neck and making them look like a new couple on prom night – they have not yet gotten so comfortable with each other that they can do these romantic things. Honestly, kissing him seems easier than holding his hand or being in his arms and dancing with him. It just has a lot more meaning to it.

"I will probably always think you are a lady," the words that he says are spoken just loud enough for her to hear them perfectly.

"Thank you, my good sir," she follows his lead and dances.

The song keeps going, so they dance, and they dance, and they dance. It is a slow dance, and their arms are wrapped around each other so tightly. She feels warm and safe and comforted just by his presence with her. The world seems just a little less unfair with her friend there right by her side – not that she will ever tell him that.

"Thank you," she whispers to him, hoping that he will hear.

"It is no problem," he smiles. "Now go home before you catch something."

He walks outside with her, as if he does not want her to be alone long enough to change her mind about Marius and wearing this stupid dress for him. She is not going to change her mind at this point – not after his words and their dance – but she is fine with him making sure that she actually gets into the cab that is standing right in front of the building, as if it is waiting just for her. The cabbie has already noticed her planning to leave, and she knows that it will be a pretty awkward ride – so she stands still and tries to spend just a few more seconds with 'Jolras before she has to leave.

"I will make sure to sneeze in your jacket," she sticks her tongue out at him.

"If you do, just have it dry-cleaned," he does not rise to the taunt.

He watches her get in the cab, and he closes the door behind her and waves.

"Pontmercy mansion," she tells the driver and sits back in the backseat.

And there they go; they are off. She clasps the jacket around her even more tightly. It is warm and it smells of him. He smells rather nice.

AN: That's a twist, is it not? No cake jumping for Éponine. As always, let me know your favorite lines/parts/moments/characterizations/anything.


	9. Chapter Eight

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: Still not mine. Surprise!

**AN:** So, this chapter is a short one, I know. Well, short for this story, anyway. Still, I have a feeling people might love it anyway… I mean, look at the title =P

**Chapter eight: Hangover city – population: one**

She is ready to start the day until she hears the pained groans coming from the man next to her. The look on his face tells her that he is probably pretty sick, and without even knowing the aftermath of the bachelor party, she knows that he has probably gotten really freaking drunk – probably without intending too, because she knows the kind of pranks the other Amis like to play on him. They probably pulled The Never-Empty Bottle on him and hoped that by the time he would notice, he would be drunk enough to no longer care about it all that much. She thinks that it worked pretty well.

"Good morning lover," she speaks loudly and brightly.

"Can you not," he groans, with his head mostly hidden underneath his pillow.

Oddly enough, she finds this more than a little adorable. Here is the big bad lawyer who has made many a man wet his pants in court – and now he is crawled underneath the covers and hiding his face from the sunlight because his head hurts. It is rumbling his perfect Curls of Adorableness and there are pillow creases on the parts of his face that she can still see. He has never looked less like himself, and she finds it sweet.

"Which trick was it?" she lowers the volume of her voice.

"They switched my bottle," his voice is darker and more hoarse.

It does something to her, and that is a dangerous place for her to be in at this point in time. She is just going to pretend that his voice does not sound like liquid sex and she is going to help him feel better in a completely platonic way that has nothing at all to do with the hollow in his throat that is now looking all kinds of lickable.

"I'll get you some water and aspirin," she smiles at him, even though he will not see.

"Thank you," even hung-over he is the consummate gentleman.

The bottle of aspirin in the bathroom had not been there when she went to sleep the night before – he was out much later than she was – so it must have been placed there by whoever was smart enough to know that Enjolras would need it this morning.

She grabs a glass and fills it with tap water, making sure to get Enjolras two aspirins – she is judging this by how tense he usually is. He must have tension headaches all of the time, and two aspirins would probably do the trick better for this hangover. She hopes that this is the only weird health issue he has gotten from that bachelor party, and knowing him it probably is. He would have stayed far away from the craziest stuff.

"Please don't open the curtains," he begs as she comes back for him.

"I'll keep it nice and dark," she promises, sitting on his side of the bed and holding his relief in her hands. "Now come sit up for your medicine, you doofus."

Having to treat him so differently is weird for her, but she can manage as long as he gets back to normal after taking these pills. He is usually the mature one in this partnership, and now that he is like this little boy who just wants sleep, she is just not quite sure how to handle him. Treating him like she used to treat Gavroche feels a bit wrong.

"I am sorry for this," he tells her, throwing the pills back with ease.

He makes a funny face after swallowing his pills and water, and she has to giggle because he is just that adorable and she will probably never again get the chance to see the great Enjolras so out of his comfort zone. Oh, this is just too good.

"Nah, it's fine," she tells him, putting the glass on the nightstand. "I think you've dealt with a lot more of my shit than you ever had to bother with. We're good, 'Jolras."

It is perfectly normal to just crawl back into bed and lay down right next to him. The sheets are so soft and his presence next to her is so comforting that she could almost fall asleep again, but she will not do that. Although, she is still perfectly happy to tug the sheets up higher and lie there with him and forget the world – just like in that way overplayed Snow Patrol song. With him she can be that girl, at least for now.

"I'm sorry about Marius," he tells her, his voice still all liquid sexy.

"Marius is a stupid shit," she tells him in response, turning to face him in the bed.

They are now both lying on their sides, facing each other in the gigantic bed that usually keeps them far enough apart so that they won't ever have to touch each other. Now that they are actually looking at each other and still in bed together, things get a little more awkward than they were before. But that is only normal in this kind of situation, or at least she thinks so, and she is not going to make a big deal out of it.

"You start listening to me now?" he teases, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

"I just could not deny your wisdom any longer," she tells him in return.

That makes him laugh, and he grasps his own head in pain before she can point out that showing sincere emotions can hurt pretty badly when one has a hangover. She has learned this from experience, but she has never really had someone there next to her to take care of her the morning after a long night. Next time she is really drunk or hung-over, she is going to call him up to take care of her, just for shits and giggles. He will never owe her anything after this, but she could definitely try.

His presence is just extremely comfortable when he is quiet and warm.

"Is this okay?" he asks, holding her in these warm arms – that explains the sudden heat.

"I would be more worried about it being okay with you," she makes herself more comfortable, snuggling closer for security. "But if you're okay, I'm okay."

She never would have expected this of him, but she cannot blame him for seeking out warmth and comfort when he is feeling sick and uncomfortable. She is basically being his hot water bottle at this point, and even the Marble Man can want that.

"It is actually quite nice to have someone here with me," he tells her softly.

"Is it terrible of me to be surprised by that?" she asks, not sure what to say.

It is odd to be this close to him when they are not trying to fool anyone – even though they were almost this close last night during their dance. Just, now that they are in bed and they are both wearing a lot less clothes than the night before – even the Sexy Dress ™ covers more than her sports bra and panties – it is a lot less easy to think about this as simply a platonic embrace between two friends. She and Marius have never done the underwear cuddle, and while she hates that, she cannot stop thinking about how she is doing that right now with the man of marble. This should not be happening.

"It is only expected," his dark voice is still there, and she shivers.

"I didn't sneeze in your jacket last night," she changes the subject happily. "And I didn't tip the cabbie. He kept trying to look at me while he was driving."

The entire experience was extremely uncomfortable and she has never been so glad for anyone's gentlemanly behavior. She would not have been able to deal with it if she had not had his jacket to cover her up and to keep her warm.

"I am sorry," he once again apologizes for something that is not his fault.

"Me too," she acknowledges it anyway. "I'm sorry I wore the silly dress."

At this point she just wants to throw the dress in the trash or sell it online – because she never wants to see the stupid thing again. It was a silly impulse buy for a stupid situation like the one Enjolras was wise to make her avoid, and now there is nothing left to go with it except for letting it gather more and more dust in the back of her closet.

"It was not that silly," Enjolras seems hesitant to tell her this particular thing, his voice cracking. "You in that dress, that could crack even the hardest rock."

"Even marble?" she asks, just out of curiosity.

Why she would even want to know is beyond her, but she asks the question anyway. It is not because cracking the Marble Man would be a great feat to accomplish, because he is more than a thing to finish on her to do list. He means more to her than that, and she is just not the kind of person who can ever treat someone like that. Still, her curiosity might end up killing the proverbial cat. Did she crack the marble somehow?

"Who knows?" his tone of voice is forcibly light.

There is nothing that she can possibly say to that that will not make things awkward or bring back his headache. She likes being in his arms for now, and she is not about to do anything that will end her comfortable situation. How is she ever supposed to be comfortable in her own crappy bed without warm arms to hold her?

Maybe she is going to have to get a better mattress when the next check comes in.

They are both silent for a while longer, both seemingly not knowing what to say to each other, at least until they hear footsteps coming closer to them. The hallway echoes these steps, making Enjolras groan with the sound. The hangover is still bothering him.

"I don't want to talk to anyone," he does not move away from her though.

His head is now hidden, his breath blowing onto her neck and making her shiver. The cuddling is still so new to her – and to him too, probably – that every move he makes is a new delight to discover. They have gotten quite physical already, with her legs wrapped around his waist and his hands on her ass and their pelvises connecting, but they have never been close in this way. They are still so strange to each other.

"I don't want to move," he tells that dirty secret in a soft tone of voice.

"Maybe if we're silent they will just go away," she hopes for this with all her heart.

The footsteps are finally at their room, which means that the person is wanting to see one or both of them – which is not something that they need at this point. They are both watching the door handle jiggle. The door opens and R waltzes in with dramatic flair.

"Good morning lovers," his voice is too light and happy for someone who went to a bachelor party the night before and drank himself silly.

"Fuck off," 'Jolras curses angrily. "I know that you switched my drinks last night."

She probably should not find Enjolras' cursing sexy, but she kind of does. It is hilarious to think that she might have had this kind of effect on him, but she thinks that blaming his hangover and his anger at R for causing it is much more accurate. Still, the thought of him losing it and cussing – possibly during sex – is just really fucking hot, and it does not even have a thing to do with attraction. Just seeing a man like 'Jolras letting loose and letting go is an aphrodisiac for a wild woman like her.

"Just leave us alone R," she is not in the mood for any of her friend's usual crazy antics this morning. "There has been enough drama for now. Also, 'Jolras has a hangover because of you, so I imagine he is not very happy with you. Basically: run."

Okay, so the little reference added at the end might have been a bit too much, but it fit too well not to use it. Also, while she absolutely loves R's brand of drama, after everything that she has had to go through over the last twenty-four hours, she is not in the mood to deal with any of it. She is trying really hard to deal with things, and being alone in bed with Enjolras is somehow helping her with that – R's presence is only going to make things worse, because he is going to want to make a big deal out of this cuddling and their lack of clothes. This does not have to mean anything if she does not want it to mean anything – and she really does not want it to mean anything, because she has no need of meaning at the moment. Meaning eventually just brings pain.

"I just wanted to verify that you were the couple dancing last night," R is grinning.

"Fuck," she is now cussing out loud as well. "You saw us?"

That definitely puts a damper on things. As long as their dance was kept as a dirty little secret just between the two of them, then it did not have to be anything more than it was – just two friends trying to find comfort and sanctuary. She does not know his reasons to need these things, but she is trying to stay out of his business in that aspect.

"What was that all about?" R is sitting at the foot of the bed, happily gossiping.

"Do you really want to know?" 'Jolras waits for a nod. "It's none of your damn business."

The pouty, disappointed look on R's face is pretty priceless, and since she no longer has 'Jolras breathing down her neck in a rather literal way, she can easy turn to smile at her bed buddy because his way of drawing R in was beautiful. He knows just how to deal with his friend in a way that is funny and heartfelt and so typical of them that she now sees why the two of them stayed friends even through R's love for him.

"That was a nice dress, by the way," R turns to her and grins.

"This is just one of those things that are going to stay between us, R," she has to make him understand. "Just don't tell Marius – or anyone really – that you saw us last night."

No one else is going to be able to understand what happened last night, and while they can make R promise to stay quiet about it, she is sure that they will never be able to extract a similar promise from all of the other Amis. If this gets out beyond the borders of the room, there will be hell to pay for all of them.

"For you, my dear, I will," R gets up from the bed to stare at the both of them.

"Now kindly buzz off," Enjolras is still feeling less than perfect, and they can probably all tell that a little too well. "My head still hurts and your voice makes it worse."

She will probably never understand why men are all such dipshits to each other even when they are probably each other's very best friends. Still, instead of telling each other how important they are, they have to use names and insult each other.

"You deserve it," R completely goes along with this thing.

"You deserve worse," Enjolras' reply feels like it's an old joke. "Thanks R. It was fun."

And that was all he had to say from the beginning – even though it was not what she was expecting as the outcome of this conversation. It seems as if Enjolras occasionally needs to be forced into having fun, and there is no one better to help with having fun than R Grant. Maybe the amount of alcohol consumed over the course of the night was too much for him to take, but Enjolras actually had fun. She cannot help but be glad that she did not ruin the entire night for him – which is something she had feared.

"That is all I wanted to hear from you," R grins and turns away. "Continue cuddling!"

R exits the room, leaving them in their same old cuddling position, with nothing left to say to each other. They are quiet then, because there is nothing left to talk about now that R has said pretty much everything that needed to be said.

"He did give us permission," Enjolras continues to be happy with her in his arms.

"I did not peg you as a big cuddler," she just cannot let it go.

A part of her wants to hear him say that he is only like this with her, for whatever reason, but probably just because she wants to be special to someone again. She knows that she is not all that special to Marius these days, and while some of the boys may consider her somewhat of a friend – she is not anyone's best friend any longer. R is probably Enjolras' best friend, but she will settle for being his only cuddle buddy.

"I do not usually have anyone to cuddle," he replies in a soft voice, still holding her close to him. "I am not usually a person who cuddles. But I'm not usually hung-over either."

That probably only constitutes a real explanation in his mind, the mind that is still seriously suffering from his consumption of all that alcohol. So, he probably means that this is only going to happen when he is hung-over and she is nearby. Which is pretty much the same thing as saying that this is a one-time deal.

She is just going to cuddle up closer and make herself more comfortable if this is indeed the last time that this will happen. She needs this kind of human contact too, and she has not gotten any in a long time – Gavroche got too cool for hugs a few years ago.

"Let's just enjoy it while it lasts," she tells him, deciding to forget the future for a while.

The future probably has nothing good planned for her anyway.

"I can do that," he tells her, and she can feel herself drifting off.

Somehow she knows that she will sleep very well.

AN: Cuddles! Yep, I'm a big fan! Let me know your favorite lines/moments/parts/etc!


	10. Chapter Nine

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: I hate to say it, but I'm not Victor Hugo. I think you'd know that already, because I haven't killed anyone yet…

AN: Marius, at last, we see each other plain… Yeah, so, this is the actual confrontation between Éponine and Marius. Muchos emotions. Feels guarantee!

Chapter nine: Confrontation

This is just one of the many reasons why she is going to elope – if she does ever get married for whatever stupid reason. There is just so much stress associated with a wedding that there is no time to actually be happy and in love.

It is the day before the wedding and everyone appears to be freaking out.

"Eponine, can you go help Marius," Cosette asks yet another favor, this one being the most painful one yet. "He is working on the table settings."

Enjolras shoots her an apologetic look, but he has no way to save her, since he has already been put to work writing place cards – he has elegant handwriting that most calligraphists would probably kill for. It is one of the many ridiculously perfect things about him that she should no longer be surprised about.

"I'll go and find him," she has found that agreeing with Cosette makes things easier.

Her heart is not supposed to be found so obviously on her sleeve, but even Cosette can take time away from freaking out long enough to give her that terrible look of pity that she can live without ever seeing again. Everyone now knows of her stupid feelings and Marius' continued insistence on pretending that she does not really exist – he has not acknowledged her in days and while she appreciates the distance, she hates that he has stopped even trying to talk to her. She wants him to make an effort to win her back as his friend. Now it just seems like she is once again an afterthought for him.

"Here comes the cavalry," she quips as she finds her former best friend.

"I told Cosette that I did not need any help," Marius is not happy with her showing up.

It is not as if she even really wants to be here with him either, but his anger and frustration at seeing her still really stings. It is as if he has given up on her as a friend and has just decided to see her as a hostile presence from now on. She wants to blame it all on stress and pre-wedding jitters, but she knows that would be too optimistic.

"She sent me here anyway," she makes her voice close to emotionless.

"Just make sure that everything's in order on the tables," Marius follows her lead for once, but he sounds more like a tool. "It's not that complicated."

Oh wow, he just made himself into even more of an asshole – that is lovely.

He is acting as if asking her to do something more complicated would be such a struggle for her, and she honestly just wants to walk away from the whole thing – but not until she has given him a solid punch in the face. She has no more arguments against punching him – not even that he is not supposed to have a black eye on his wedding day – and he is still testing her patience. She is honestly so tempted to go for it, letting her anger get the best of her to finally unleash some of those emotions that she has been choking on since she got the invitation. Because he hid it from her.

"I am sure that I can handle it," her voice is sharp enough to cut him.

She purposely puts a distance of several tables between the two of them and starts debating just how injured Marius would be if she tossed one of the big and expensive decorations at his oversized freckled head. She thinks that she can probably get away with doing it – there are no witnesses to this anyway.

"That is not what I meant," Marius finally realizes just what he said to her.

"I am sure it wasn't," she rolls her eyes, sick of feeling so insulted and demeaned. "You never mean it, but you always say it. Or you hide it away like one of your many secrets."

Honestly, she thought that he was so much better than this – and the thought of having been a friend to someone who can lie so easily to her makes her so sick inside. Marius was the only person in her life who would never lie to her about anything, and it was a refreshing change after living with con artists for the entirety of her childhood. She is good at knowing when she is being lied to, but she trusts Marius so much that she would not even consider the idea of him lying to her – and he took advantage of that.

"I never meant to keep Cosette from you," he argues, sounding so tired.

"But you did," she has to show him her side of things. "You did hide her from me, and you did that for almost two whole years. You should get a fucking prize for managing to lie to me for that long and not getting caught until you let it happen."

Her instincts are close to gone, and her trust is all but shattered because of him. Twenty years of friendship basically gone down the drain because of lies – she is just not sure if she is ever going to be able to trust him ever again. How will she know that he is not just telling her another lie? How will she ever be able to tell?

"Maybe Cosette has some kind of ribbon for you," she continues to bite at him.

"Leave Cosette out of this," Marius is still fixing the tables.

It is easier to focus on the disgustingly pretty tables with all of their frilly details and the forks and the spoons – focusing on the knives would just bring seriously violent ideas to her mind – than to look at his stupid face. She just wants to get it all over and done with so that she can get away from him as soon as possible. She never wants to let herself be close to him again – in any and all ways. She can never trust him again.

"You brought her into it long before I did," she scoffs, moving some cutlery around.

"Now you are blaming me for this?" Marius actually seems surprised at that.

There is no one else to blame for this but him. He is the one who was keeping things from her and taking advantage of her trust – when he was actually pretty much the only person in the world that she trusted absolutely and completely.

"Of course I am blaming you," she starts shouting at him, knowing that her voice will undoubtedly carry to where Cosette and 'Jolras are still working.

"I don't understand why," Marius continues to be a total and complete idiot.

Enjolras will probably be on his way to rescue her from this confrontation, but she still needs to get all of this out of her system because she cannot go on without calling Marius on all of this shit. There are just so many things that she still has to say to him, and she wants to say them without being interrupted by a well-meaning intervention from dear Enjolras. So she just hopes that he will wait a little while longer.

"You promised me," her voice cracks, but she has to keep going. "You remember the pact we made when we were eighteen and hopeful and trusting and so stupid. You told me that we'd get married at twenty-eight if we did not find someone. You remembered that promise as recently as a few months ago. You even mentioned it to me then."

That stupid pact they made all of those years ago feels like a ridiculous idea now – and she is starting to think that he only said it as a joke. But if that were the case, he should not have kept reminding her of it and counting down the years with her, because those were the things that actually gave her hope that he loved her as well, and that he wanted to be married to her just as much as she wanted to be married to him. He gave her hope and then he crushed it beneath a pair of Cosette's stylish pumps. That just hurts.

"And then I find out you have been dating someone all that time," the betrayal that she feels is probably showing on her face. "You broke your promise and you did not even bother to tell me. You thought it would be better if I kept believing you."

He let her believe the stupid lies for so long that she is sure she probably came across as a naïve and silly young girl – and she swore she would never be that girl again.

"I just didn't want to hurt you," Marius is hurt as well.

"Well, you did a marvelous job at that," she has to take deep breaths to keep from crying, because he cannot see her falling apart. "You should have just told me when you met her, instead of keeping the lies up until the wedding invitation came in the mail. Do you have any idea how much it hurt to find out about my best friend's wedding through a stupid invitation in the mail? I did not even know that you were dating anyone. I felt like a fool."

The stupidity and naivety, which were associated with being lied to for so long, are some of the worst offenders – but the issue of trust is still the worst of them all. She does not feel like she can trust him now, and after twenty years of calling him her best friend to anyone who was willing to listen – that stings the most of all.

"I just did not know how to tell you," he looks so lost, but she cannot feel sorry for him.

"I do not even care how you told me," she rolls her eyes, because it seems as if he still does not get the point of this. "I just cared that you told me at all, and you didn't."

She would have taken a simple cowardly text telling her about Cosette over finding out from that invitation in the mail. He does not understand that, but any way would be preferable over finding out from an almost anonymous message in her mail that had nothing to do with her personally. She is his best friend, and has been his best friend for twenty years, and she had to find out with everybody else, as if she has never been as special to him as he has always been to her. It was just another reminder that she was the one holding this friendship together with her sheer want for him.

"I knew you would hate Cosette," Marius feels ashamed of this.

"I may have, at first," she is very willing to admit that, even if Cosette does end up listening in on this conversation. "But I hated her because you kept her a secret from me and I felt like she was taking you away from me. You did a fine job of ruining our friendship on your own, and Cosette is a decent person. Congrats, you were wrong!"

If the circumstances had been a little different, she might eventually have struck up a decent friendship with Cosette, and that is just another thing that Marius has taken from her by being a stupid idiot and lying to her for two years.

"I knew how you felt about me," Marius finally says it, and she stills completely.

"You knew?" she has never been so surprised. "How long have you known?"

She has never claimed to be anything less than obvious about her feelings for him, but since he never changed his response to her, and since he never said anything about her feelings, she has always assumed that he was just oblivious to her and these stupid feelings. But no, she has to find out that he has told her even more lies than she ever thought he would tell her. He has known about these feelings and ignored them, occasionally even encouraged them, as long as it suited his own agenda.

"I have known for years," Marius seems embarrassed to say.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she is disappointed and furious. "I have mooned over you for so long, and you could have just told me you didn't feel the same way. If only you had told me, I would not have been stuck hoping that you would finally see me for years and years and years. I could have gotten over you years ago and you didn't let me!"

Her life would have been so very different if he had only told her that he did not see her that way. She could have had years of love and happiness without him, and now she just cannot see how she can ever have that when the only man she ever really loved lied to her and treated her like her feelings were always second to his. After the whole deal with Montparnasse and her mysterious savior, she kept hoping for Marius to notice and to save her from her crappy past, but he never did. Did he know back then? Did he know even then that she would have done anything to make him see?

Montparnasse was just another stupid mistake that turned into something much more dangerous than she initially thought. She heard that he is in jail now, and she sleeps sounder at night for knowing that. She wonders who her savior was that night.

"You have Enjolras now," Marius seems to think that solves everything.

"Just stop talking, Marius," the hero of the day has finally intervened.

She feels safe enough to let out the deep shuddering breath that she had been holding in for a while, now that 'Jolras is here with his arms around her, keeping her warm when her world slowly crumbles into ashes – it would not be the first time that she had to rebuild her life from the ground up, but she has always thought that Marius would be with her the next time she had to. She never thought that he would be the cause of the crumbling, but she has been wrong about so many things already.

"I can't breathe," she mutters into Enjolras' neck. "The air is gone."

He softens his hold on her just a little, hoping he was not the cause of her breathing problems, and his hands are soothing as they run up and down her back. The shuddering breaths are back, and she is sure that she will never be able to face Marius again.

"What did I do?" Marius has no idea how wrong he has been.

"You can be such an idiot," Cosette has joined them as well, and she is starting to call Marius out on his shit, albeit more fondly than she ever would.

This seems to be new for Marius, because he just looks so stunned at being called out on all of the many things that he has done wrong lately. Cosette has just stood back and she has taken all of it, but she is apparently done with that, just like she is.

"But, Cosette," he stammers, looking like the unsure kid that she once knew.

"She is right, Marius," Enjolras stands by the women in the room. "Though I probably would not say it in such a nice voice. But yes, you can be an idiot."

His arms are still around her, but he still manages to sound perfectly hostile with her face hidden in his neck. He is her knight in shining armor, and she is sure that their relationship status has now officially been cemented in the eyes of Marius and Cosette – she would never turn to just any person in a situation like this one. Her knight has to mean something to her, or she will never be able to let go enough to let this person see her vulnerable. She does not like to show any kind of soft side in front of others.

"I am really sorry for everything" his apology is just too little too late.

"That does not mean that much to me at this point," she shouts at him, finally getting away from her protector. "I don't even know if I can forgive you, Marius."

That is when she bolts, because she has already shown too much of her vulnerabilities to all of these people. She just has to get away before – God forbid – she actually starts crying in front of all of them. That is probably the worst thing that could happen in this situation, and she is not going to let it get that far. She has to run.

"Let her go," she can hear Enjolras ordering everyone else around. "Just let her go!"

And she can finally escape.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

It is not easy to be Éponine, she knows that now; even though she always used to be so jealous of how the other girl still had both of her parents and they obviously loved her so very much – they always hated her and made her do chores. It is stupid to still be mad at Éponine for those times, but she will never forgive Éponine's parents for their cruelty.

"I need to fix this," Marius is frantic, and his face as white as snow.

"This is not something that you can fix just like that," Enjolras comes to his girlfriend's defense with a zeal that she continues to find impressive. "I am going to go find her and make sure that she is not going to do something stupid because of you!"

Enjolras marches off with a grace that tells her that he must come from some kind of old money. Marius does much the same thing when he is upset with his father or grandfather, and it makes her smile to see that these two friends share this when they maintain that they don't share many things or viewpoints. Still, they chose the same profession – albeit in different branches – and they both chose a damaged girl to love.

They are much more alike than they think, and she enjoys knowing that.

"Tell me how to fix it," he implores her, and while she does not want to make him feel like everyone is ganging up on him, she also needs to tell him some harsh truths.

"You really hurt her, dear," she sympathizes with him a little, her arm around his waist as she continues to talk. "You keep too many secrets, and when they come out, it leaves people thinking that they cannot always trust you. For people like Éponine and I, trust is the one thing that few people get. You are the only one she trusted completely, and you just threw that away. At least, that is how she is feeling right now."

She understands how Éponine is feeling just a little too well, because she too had almost no one until she finally found her Marius. Her stepfather is still the most amazing man she knows, but he has always kept secrets about his past and what her life was about before she went to the Inn to live with the Thénardier family.

"I just don't know how to talk to her anymore," her dear Marius is close to tears over losing his best friend. "She is not always my Eppie, and I don't know what to say to her anymore. We don't see each other, so we don't know what's going on in each other's lives, and it just gets worse and worse with time. I wish that she and Enjolras would live closer to the rest of us, but I don't think that would fix everything."

It is always hard to be faced with one's mistakes, especially like this.

"You need to keep talking to each other," she tries to make him understand.

"I know that now," he plants a soft kiss on her forehead. "You're the smart one here, and I should have listened to you before. I should have told everyone about us sooner."

At this point, she is supposed to feel vindicated – because she has told him so many times that keeping their relationship secret was a bad idea, and that it made her feel like his dirty little secret. Now that the secret has come out and people have gotten hurt over it, she almost wishes that they could have kept the two of them a secret forever. She never wanted to be the reason that anyone got hurt.

"How long have you know that Éponine was in love with you?" she has to ask him this.

She is secure enough in her relationship to know that Marius only has eyes for her, but him keeping this a secret, that part still stings. And now she has to know.

"I'm sorry," he once again apologizes. "I've known since college. Montparnasse seemed to be a way to get over someone, and I knew it was me."

The look of shock on her face at that name has to be pretty obvious, because she knows all about what goes on in the backrooms of bars and restaurants in this city. This guy is a part of one of the biggest gangs in the city, and his name is on more than a few watch lists. She works for the DA's office, and she is not stupid. She knows enough.

She guesses that they should all be glad Éponine got away from him.

"You might have told me, dear," she keeps a level tone of voice.

"I should have told you and here," his voice is filled with regret, and she loves him even more than before for owning up to everything. "I want my friend back, dear."

When he looks like this, she can see the little boy that Eponine became friends with twenty years ago. And she still sees the wonderful man that she fell in love with so quickly two years ago, and she sees the man that she is going to marry in a day.

"We are going to fix it, together," she promises before kissing him.

"I love you," he tells her, breathing heavy.

Out of all of the things and all of the people in an entire world that is filled with people and things, she loves Marius the most, and that is why they are going to get married and live happily ever after. It is an almost silly dream, but it is actually reality.

"Love you too," she smiles in the most beatific way, because their marriage is so close.

"We're getting married in the morning," Marius sings in this adorable way that he has, one that always makes her smile. "Get us to the church on time!"

Are those things from the same song? She is not sure, but that does not matter when Marius is smiling again and having the two of them dance in the middle of their venue, as some sort of a test run for the big day tomorrow. In less than twenty-four hours, she will officially be Mrs. Pontmercy – her name will be Cosette Pontmercy.

Only a few hours left before she is finally the happiest woman on earth.

AN: A little Cosette POV for all of you.

So, now that the big blow-up between Eponine and Marius has come and gone… Next chapter has the day of the wedding. And so does the one after that. That's right! Two chapters dedicated to one day. Prepare!


	11. Chapter Ten

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: DON'T ASK ME – 'cause I didn't write the book!

AN: Yes, the day of the wedding is finally here. I love you all! Go and enjoy!

**Chapter ten: The Distraction Reaction**

"I can't do this," she tells Enjolras, sitting on her hands to keep from tearing things apart in sadness, anger, and frustration. "I need to get away from here! I need to do something about this madness! I said I wouldn't let it happen, and now it is happening. I failed and you were not that big of a help, lover. I really can't do this!"

She is this close to actually hyperventilating, and the wedding is hours away from actually happening. It is only going to get worse from here, and there is nothing for her to do until the wedding starts. She can only spend so much time on her looks, and she does not want to ruin her pretty red dress by spilling something on it or sweating like a pig – cause she is currently sweating more than during high school gym classes.

"We still have a few hours to go before the wedding starts," he tells her.

"Do something to distract me," she orders, counting the minutes. "I'm dying here!"

There are now exactly one hundred and ninety-six minutes before the wedding starts, and already the clock is ticking too slowly for her to be able to deal. Minutes are starting to seem like hours, and she can't take almost two hundred of those. There is too much time and she has too little to do, sitting outside of the room that has been assigned for the guests of honor to get dressed and get ready. It is not their turn to use the room yet, because she has asked for a later time so that she would not tear her dress to bits with all of the tension running through her body. But now there is too much time.

"How am I supposed to distract you?" he has no ideas what to do.

"Tell me a story," she proposes. "Give me an orgasm – that always calms me down."

That just completely stops him in his tracks. He was pacing the floor, just as impatient as she was, but now he cannot move a muscle because she surprised him so much just by telling him a hidden truth about herself. She does like sex when she is stressed, because stress makes her crave a distraction, and sex is one of the few things that can make her leave her brain and enter her body again. If only he was not made of marble.

"What did you just say?" of course his blush would return to his face.

"You heard me," she refuses to be embarrassed. "Give me an orgasm or give me a story."

She is now looking at those hands of his, because while she already knows that his tongue is very talented, she knows that such an act would be too personal – and she also wants to know all of the undoubtedly many talents that his fingers have to offer. She is now distracted by her imaginings of what something like that could be like between the two of them. It surprises her, because she loves Marius. She has always loved Marius, and thoughts of other men continue to feel like cheating to her.

"We're in a public place," he is motioning to the empty hallway.

"It's not that public," she knows how secluded their corner is, because no one else has come by and noticed them in at least thirty minutes. "I'm not easily embarrassed."

One step closer to him and then another, and she is right in front of him and ready to have him put his hands all over her and show her why he is more than the Marble Man everyone seems to think he is. So, she's a little sexually frustrated.

"I cannot believe you just asked me that," Enjolras seems to be outraged.

"I can't believe you're not doing it yet," she is trying not to play with his tie.

It is almost making her feel like a bit of a creep, when she is trying to convince him to let go of his inhibitions enough to pleasure her in an empty hallway. Honestly, it almost sounds like the plot to a porno, but she is still very fond of this idea and hopes that it will actually will happen. Honestly, she cannot deny that she is attracted to him, and now that she knows that he is also a passionate man and a great kisser, she is even more hooked than she was before. He had better be good enough to make her forget Marius' name, and maybe even her own. He had better make her forget everything.

"I can't just do that," he is still unable to say the actual words.

"But I really want you to," she gives in and undoes his tie a little, and a little more.

He is actually more comfortable without it – he has to be, because nobody likes that sort of thing being all up in his or her neck business. That's what she is calling it, anyway, because it is the only term that perfectly describes it.

"I already told you I'm not having sex with you," he starts whispering really softly.

"I don't need full sex to get off, lover," she pouts. "I can always show you that."

Somehow it seems as if he is actually debating going through with this. And she is going to do everything that she possibly can to keep him from changing his mind about this – she wants this to happen so badly that her thighs are actually shaking with the effort it is taking not to wrap themselves around him. This chemistry is electric and she has trouble breathing around him now, because his hair is messy and his tie is undone and he looks debauched enough for her to think about doing all kinds of dirty things with him.

"How are you so comfortable with this?" he undoes his tie completely.

"I like sex," she grins at him, "when a man at least tries to make me come."

There have been some seriously sucky bouts of sex when the guy in question just could not keep her excited enough to make it fun for her. She is sure that Enjolras would sooner forgo his own orgasm than let her go without.

"People could hear," he is all of a sudden scandalized again.

"I'm sure people know all about sex and orgasms," she has to enunciate. "At least, I hope so. Otherwise I would probably feel a little sorry for them. Orgasms are great."

Even Gabriel Enjolras must know about the powers of orgasms, and if he does not know, she will be very happy to enlighten him about this particular kind of superpowers. But judging by his very much closed off body language, his doubts has taken over and he is not going to consider her request even further. He is too caught up in his ideas of celibacy to help her with this, and to see how good they can be. She needs the release and she likes him regardless – damn it, this is all too confusing anyway.

She does not want to deal with this any longer. She does not want to think anymore.

"So what kind of story should I tell you?" he now denies her the possibility.

"Somehow I'm a little disappointed at that choice," she is more frustrated now.

Her hands have turned into claws, scratching at her bare arms until they are covered in white lines. The patterns only manage to hold her interest for so long until she has to do it again – but it is the only other way she can think of in which she is distracted.

"You should have expected it," his tie remains undone.

When he makes sure all of his buttons are still buttoned she actually feels more than a bit of dread at seeing him so composed again. The curls are still a mess, and that helps her feel a little better about this, but she still wanted him to choose the other option, and that continues to be a bit of a mixed bag for her. She does not know how to feel about it, and while that is a distraction, it is definitely not the good kind of distraction.

"I did expect this to be your choice, eventually," she should have expected this.

"But you're still disappointed?" that seems to be a surprise to him, that he could fail her by being the Marble Man. "I don't think I need to know. What kind of story?"

He has gotten by before by pretending that he is nothing more than the Marble Man who does not have any emotions. No one else has ever attempted to look beyond that, or when they do try, he manages to steer them far away from his real issues and his real feelings. She appears to be the only one who isn't deterred by it – even R occasionally appears like he has given up on making 'Jolras feel anything real.

"Tell me about you," she proposes then, trying to look away from her arms.

"There is nothing to tell," he is making it pretty obvious that he is lying to her.

There are just too many secrets lurking underneath his emotionless shell. She has occasionally managed to slip between the cracks in his marble, and she might have even caused a few of those cracks herself, and that has made her see that there is just so much more to him than even he knows. He has already denied himself so many of the pleasures in life that she doubts he even knows what he could do. He could bring the female population of the world to their knees, but he would never take advantage of that power, because that is just who he is. But now she just has to know more.

"I beg to differ," she needs to know some things. "Over the last few weeks you have found out just about everything there is to know about me. You know more about me than most of my friends to, and I still know next to nothing about you. Do you have any siblings, and what is your family like? Why did you choose to go to law school? Why can't I call you Gabriel? Honestly, I can think of dozens of questions I have for you. Why are you celibate? And I don't need the talk of Patria. I need a real reason. Why?"

She just has so many questions that she really wants answers to, and he has yet to give her anything that she can use in this. Now she just has to keep trying to get an answer out of him, and many she will get a better insight into who he really is.

"Patria is the real reason," he continues to protest any other reasons.

"I will not believe that you never get the urge to," she sits down again starts pondering some of the most creative euphemisms she has heard her students using over her several years of working at schools. "Let me see, what euphemism would make you blush the most? Rub one out? Walk the dog? Go on a date with Rosie Palms?"

Every word coming out of her mouth makes him turn more red – it is amazing!

"Yes, I do occasionally masturbate," he says, but even the back of his neck is red.

"You just made this line of questioning way less fun," she shows him her best pout.

It was supposed to be a fun way to pass the time, but he nipped that thing in the bud before it could get really good. She has a lot more embarrassing euphemisms in mind that she could use to make his embarrassment distract her some more. There are so many things that she could say, and he is not nearly red enough for her tastes, so she can just keep going until she has to get dressed for the stupid wedding.

"Your questioning of my sex life is not supposed to be fun," he is indignant.

"Not for you, it isn't," she rebuts triumphantly, showing him another grin.

So far, it has been really fun for her, and him calling it off makes it a lot less fun. He has provided no other distraction thus far, so she is going to keep embarrassing him until he gives her something else to think about. There are still about three hours between now and the wedding, and she cannot get through those three hours without a really good distraction, one she is hoping that he will provide for her. Also, she just wants to be fair and know as much about him as he knows about her.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" her 'Jolras seems annoyed at this.

"Because I know you're not made of marble," she has to explain. "You have feelings just like everybody else, and I doubt you have never felt anything for anyone. You're twenty-eight years old, and you cannot have gone through these years without any feelings."

There is no way that it is possible to live without love and without feelings. He has feelings, and she has witnessed them, so he simply cannot continue to tell her the contrary, because she does know better and she is not easily fooled. He should know that by now, so he should probably just give in to her before she makes it worse.

"Of course I have feelings," he only tells her what she already knows.

"So?" she tries to make him discuss more than just that.

"I just choose not to act on these feelings," he says. "They are too much of a distraction."

Him and his stupid belief that feelings can only be a distraction from much more important things – she almost pities him because he cannot see just how much good feelings can do for people. They have just never done that for her.

"Do you look down on me for letting my feelings rule my life?" she has to know.

"I don't look down on you," he is quick to assure her of that.

She is not so quick to believe him about that, though. He is a lawyer, so he is very good at lying and not showing just what he really believes. He must think her such a stupid and naïve simpleton who lets her feelings mean everything in her life. He must think that he is homo novus and she is a more primitive species – she feels like such a fool.

"You have judged me about this, have you not?" she knows that this is true.

"I think you are very brave," he just about stuns her with his response.

There is nothing really brave about her – there is nothing but stubbornness and stupidity that makes her continue on a doomed path. She is not special in any way, and she has long ago made her peace with that, as long as she could continue to be special to someone. Now she is no longer special to anyone, she has next to nothing left but her stupidity and her stubbornness. Still, she has to make it through this too.

"How would you get brave from all this stupidity?" she has never seen anything like this.

"You are brave enough to love without holding anything back," there is a hint of longing in his voice, and she is trying not to let it tear her apart, "and without expecting anything in return. You just love, and you do it with all your heart."

It sounds as if he wants to love that way too, but that would be completely the opposite of what he has always been saying. She just does not understand him at all.

"That is just about the last way in which I thought you would see it," she scoffs.

"I guess I'm full of surprises," he smiles at her and she has no idea what to say.

While he is definitely right about that, she just does not know what comes next.

"You have no idea," she shakes her head, still unsure of what to say to him.

Every single time she thinks that she has figured him out he shows something else about him that completely changes who she thinks he is. Maybe someday she will finally get the complete picture – but that day will probably not be today. Still, everything that he can tell her today would both be a lovely distraction and a way to figure out who her new friend is. She wants to know what makes him tick.

"Is this why you want to know more about me?" he asks her the question.

"It is at least a part of the reason, yes," she admits. "You are such a secretive person."

She can spend the hours before the wedding just listing the many things that she still want to know about him, ranging from boring and silly questions like his favorite piece of clothing to something like the reason he does not want to be called Gabriel. She wants to know who he thinks of when he does rub one out – because for some reason she is now hoping that that person's her. Yeah, she is even freaking herself out.

"I like to think of myself as a private person," he is still correcting her.

"We are friends now, are we not?" she has to wonder. "Friends tell each other things."

Are they friends? She believes that they are friends after everything that they have gone through together. It would be weird for them not to be friends after having had her tongue down his throat and his legs around his waist. They even cuddled for fuck's sake, and that is not something that she ever does with anyone. They have to be friends.

"I suppose that you are right about that," he appears to be mulling it over.

There is nothing to think about in her opinion. Can he still doubt that they are friends, or is there something else to this? Does he doubt that friends tell each other secrets?

"Tell me something that I don't know about you," she leaves it open for him.

"I have one younger sister," he chooses something that seems pretty mundane at first thought, "and her name is Natalie. She is two years younger than I am. She is mostly happily married, and she is pregnant with her first child."

That is just about the last things that she expected him to say. He would be the protective big brother type; she can definitely picture that about him. He would be the guy who sat around waiting for his little sister to come home safe – and he would lecture the boyfriend in question and make sure his sister was treated right. He would be the perfect kind of big brother for any girl. She just knows that.

"So, is she like your complete opposite?" everything feels like a sitcom trope now.

"Natalie is the genius in the family," he does not sound so happy to be talking about his sister – he sounds insecure. "She has always been the smart one, while I had to work harder for things to go my way – things always seemed easy to her."

Here is the smartest and most hardworking guy she knows being worried about not being good enough. He is practically a genius, and he has accomplished things that most people – including she – can only dream of doing. Honestly, in comparison to most of the men she has known in her life, Enjolras is pretty close to being a superhero.

"Are you serious?" she cannot believe this. "You are the smartest guy I know!"

Coming from her, he might not believe that means all that much, but she still looks up to him when it comes to his intelligence and work ethic.

"Maybe that is more of a reflection on the people you know than on me," he proposes.

"I refuse to believe that," she refuses to listen to him. "How can you doubt yourself when you are an incredibly successful lawyer with a great job? You are respected by everyone who knows you – even though your friends make fun of you from time to time, you know that they still respect the hell out of you and what you've made of your life."

Basically, they are idiots, but these idiots do love him as their close friend.

"None of you have met Natalie," Enjolras almost does not want to say her name.

"Wow," he surprises her yet again. "I never pegged you as having such low self-esteem."

She figured that she was the inferior one in this partnership, being as he is the wealthy only son from some upper-class family and she is the poor and traumatized child of two infamous con artists who has serious trust issues. Yeah, there is no way that she gets to be superior in this partnership, and still he does not seem to see it, especially after he called her stupidity being brave. She does not know how to make him see.

"Natalie was Wonder Woman in our house," he explains it more clearly. "I was the invisible boy. She was in my grade, even though she was two years younger. College was the first time that she was not with me. Everyone always thought that we were twins."

His sister must be the only person that he can compare himself to and seemingly come up lacking. She has not met this girl yet, so she cannot say anything real about her, but she does know that Gabriel is a wonderful person who would not be second even to Wonder Woman – no matter how awesome that hero is.

"I am going to meet her whether you like it or not," she announces, grinning at him.

"What excuse would you have for meeting her?" this does not please him.

"I am the love of your life," she uses her matter of face voice, "remember?"

Of course she has to fake hurt at being forgotten as the love of his life. She is this close to figuring out his sister's phone number and calling her up as the long-term girlfriend of her older brother. Natalie probably would never believe it, but she might be able to make it work if she leans on some of her old family skills enough. She has not forgotten most of the ways in which she can make people believe things that simply are not true, and she has no qualms about using them to find out more about 'Jolras.

"She is never going to believe that," he scoffs, "and unlike Marius, she is hard to fool."

"Will you not let me, as your friend, meet your sister?" she sends him another pout.

Judging by the way he keeps focusing on her lips, she has managed to successfully distract him from what she has been saying. She likes that he is now showing at least some signs of an attraction to her, because it almost makes up for how insanely attracted she is to him and his stupid face and gorgeous body and – ugh, nope.

She is still in love with Marius, damn it!

"Do not try to embarrass me," somehow Enjolras has managed to recover.

"Revealing your fears to people makes you seem much more human," she tries that.

Not even she believes that much of what she is saying, but she decides to give it a try anyway, hoping to get something out of him this way.

"Says the woman who thinks showing her own vulnerability is a sign of weakness," of course he can see right through that trick she is trying to play.

"I grew up knowing vulnerability gets you killed," she has to admit that.

Still, even though she has already admitted to this in front of him, it is not something that she particularly wants to be discussing when it is just hours away from the wedding of the man she loves. She just wants to not think about anything serious – and they were doing pretty well at that before. But now, she is stressed and confused and sad again.

"It's a wedding," he suddenly reminds her. "Shouldn't we be happy?"

Neither of them has been happy throughout the entire wedding process – at least not when thinking about something related to the actual wedding. She has been happiest when Marius still appreciated her – which did not happen here. No, she has been happy surrounded by Enjolras and the rest of the Amis. They have made her smile and even laugh from time to time, even when everything seemed to fall apart right in front of her because Marius is no longer hers. She needs her boys around her.

"I never said we were even remotely like anyone else," she scoffs, hating the reminder.

"I never wanted to be like anyone else," even he appears to be lying about this.

He wants to be more like his sister, she knows that much – otherwise he would not be so sensitive about this subject. He thinks that people cannot love him for who he really is inside, so he hides and keeps himself at a distance. He envies her for her openness and brash nature, while she wishes she could think things through more. Luckily enough she has him around to keep her from embarrassing herself too much, like she would have if she had gone through with her stupid cake idea. This partnership works.

"You're still my Superboy, 'Jolras," she reassures him. "I'm the invisible girl."

"I doubt you are ever going to be invisible to anyone," he is actually smiling at her.

She has lived her life sneaking into the background or only being known as the friend of Marius Pontmercy, one of the most popular guys around. She is always the Shadow or the invisible girl, and she is mostly okay with that, as long as she has Marius.

"I've always been invisible to Marius," she hates having to remind him of that.

"He doesn't count," 'Jolras dismisses him. "He is disqualified by his own idiocy."

Once again Enjolras needs to be cruel about Marius for some reason, probably to make her see that he is not some kind of perfect angel coming to save her. And she is trying to understand that, but she is having trouble letting go of these silly romantic visions she had of Marius finally coming to his senses and seeing her for who she really is.

"He's still your friend, Enjolras," she continues to defend Marius.

"And he is still your friend as well," he says. "He'll be begging for your forgiveness soon."

Even though she is still hoping that this will actually happen, she is doubtful. Marius will be much too busy with his wedding and his beautiful bride to even consider his old friend who was stupid enough to believe that maybe they could be more one day.

"I highly doubt that," she is much more skeptical, as usual.

"You'll see," at least someone is keeping the faith in Marius, for some reason.

It is the oddest reversal of their roles from before, but she desperately wants to believe that he is the one in the right this time around. She wants her Marius back.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

"I do," Marius is officially no longer hers.

It is both easier and harder to breathe at the same time. It is harder, of course, because she is never going to be able to have the relationship with Marius that they always had before this. They are never going to be the same kind of best friends that they were before, and he has had no time to apologize to her either, so she does not know if they can even be friends at all. Somehow, now that he is officially Cosette's Marius, it is easier to stop hoping and she will finally be able to get over him.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," the minister sounds solemn but happy.

"You might want to look away now," Enjolras gently advises her. "Here be kissing."

While she knows this in her head, and she has been dreading this very moment probably the most of all; it all still comes as a surprise to her. She turns away quickly, frantically looking for a place to hide her face – and he offers the crook of his neck up without a second thought. She hides herself there before the trouble starts.

"You may kiss the bride," the minister continues his speech.

There will be a day when this no longer hurts her, but she knows that that day is not today and she is glad that she has Enjolras here to support her in this. Her face is safely hidden by him and he smells good enough to distract her from some of her troubles.

"You can do better than that, Marius," R is shouting at the happy couple.

"I should have known," 'Jolras is whispering to her. "He'd never let an opportunity to embarrass Marius pass him by. Just wait a little bit longer."

His voice is right by her ear and there is a shiver going down her spine.

"Can I look now?" she is getting impatient with her current position.

"I like the red dress," his random sentence quickly distracts her again. "It looks nice."

It is probably her favorite piece of clothing that she has ever owned, and while it is a lot more modest than her stupid Sexy Dress ™, it still shows her off perfectly. It is a deep dark red that suits her complexion really well, and it is short enough to show off her killer legs, without putting her hoo-hah on display for the world to see. And there's lace, which for some reason she finds interesting and pretty when it is usually extremely unpractical and silly. Her left sleeve is made entirely of the prettiness.

"Better than the other dress?" she has to ask him for some reason.

"More appropriate than the other dress," the mention of her black dress makes his Adams apple move. "You can look again. They're done."

While she does hate having to move away from him relatively soon, she is glad to find out that the newlyweds have managed to separate from each other long enough to get a decent breath of air. She has unconsciously been playing with his red tie – the exact color of her favorite dress – and he is close to not only matching her dress, but his tie as well. She has managed to distract him again, or she has made him feel something.

"Thank God," she rolls her eyes.

"Don't thank anyone just yet," he is smiling at her audacity. "They're coming to see us."

She is probably going to forgive Marius, and she has known that since she saw him smile at Cosette walking down the aisle in her pretty princess dress. She is ready to move on from him now – there is no chance for them now. She is going to be a good friend from now on, and just appreciate his happiness and the fact that he still wants her around even after all of the shit they have been through. Things will be okay.

"I'm so excited," she plasters on a fake smile, because she is not ready for a real one yet.

"Please forgive me, Eppie," Marius is glowing with happiness over his Cosette, and still he cannot manage to look completely happy. "Please be my friend again."

While she gets up to hug her dear friend, she cannot help but notice the look Enjolras steals at her legs – so she has still got it after all. This is still not the time to think about it, so she focuses on Marius again, ready to show her forgiveness.

"If you can let me move on, we will be okay," she promises.

"Thank you Eppie," Marius hugs her so closely she has trouble breathing.

With a real pronounced cough from both her and Enjolras – her loyal watchdog and partner in crime – Marius finally lets go. Cosette just seems amused at the whole situation, holding her arms out for a hug as well. She hopes this will mean that they have finally forgiven each other for stupid mistakes made as children.

"We're okay, Éponine," the other woman tells her, and they both smile.

"Your turn is later, 'Jolras," she tells her fake boyfriend then.

There is no way that she can tell them that she is not actually dating Enjolras. She is just going to keep the charade going until they both go back home – and they can eventually tell their friends that they broke up amicably for whatever reason he wants, because she just about owes him everything. He can say whatever he wants about this fake breakup, and she will agree with everything he says on the subject.

"I'm going to want more than a hug," he gets into character very quickly.

"I promise you'll see what is and isn't underneath this dress," she teases in return.

Which is not that much, if she is forced to be honest about it. The cut of the dress just does not allow for a proper bra, and the strapless thing that she is wearing instead is extremely tight so that nothing falls out or looks weird. As for the panties situation, there is not much fabric there, but there is some.

Honestly, if he decides that he wants to see it, he will be a lucky man.

"I'm going to hold you to that," his voice has taken on that hoarse tone again.

"I am definitely going to remember," she leans in to say that to him.

Marius and Cosette look as if they are a little uncomfortable about this, and she wants to let them move on to their other friends, the ones who seem a little more ready to congratulate the two of them. She is just a little too shaken at the moment.

"Go see your family," she motions for Marius and Cosette to move on.

She has Enjolras to sexually excite – because that has to be what she is doing. She is going to find out everything about this that she possibly can. Her curiosity is probably going to be the downfall of her, but she kind of likes that.

AN: As always, let me know your favorite parts/lines/whatever! I love you all! Let me know who you are if/when you contact me!

Robyn, you're great! Do find a way to contact me where I can talk to you as well!


	12. Chapter Eleven

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: This hurts. Really. I'm still not Victor Hugo.

AN: Here there be cuteness. Dedicated to Mary and Sophie-Louise, for being consistently lovely to me even when I'm blocked or I have nothing interesting to say or I just whine about stupid stuff.

**Chapter eleven: Mad Dancing Skills**

There is no way she is going to sit and pout at this reception, even though it is the reception for Marius' fucking wedding. She is going to dance with anyone she wants to dance with, in whatever way that she wants to dance, she is going to have fun and she is probably eventually going to show 'Jolras her underwear.

"Dance with me, Eppie?" Marius is holding out his hand for the second dance.

The first dance was all him and Cosette, only for the lovely couple, but now that Cosette is dancing with her stepfather, Marius is apparently looking for the nearest available woman to dance with – Enjolras does not really dance when others are watching, because he is still miffed that R noticed their secret dance at the bachelor party so there probably won't be any dancing at this reception. That makes her miffed too.

"If you're sure you want to dance with me," she shrugs and takes Marius' hand.

"You're my family too, Eppie," he tells her, and she cannot move a muscle.

She has nothing to say to that, and when she gets over the shock of him finally admitting just how much she means to him, she lets him lead her around the dance floor – hoping that her skills at dancing haven't deteriorated enough for her to step on his feet. Also, she hopes that his dancing skills have improved enough to save her feet – Marius has never been the best dancer, but most girls forgave him quickly because of the charm.

"Have you been taking dancing lessons?" she is stunned when her feet are safe.

"It is kind of a stupid wedding tradition," he rolls his eyes and she can finally see glimpses of the Marius she knew back in high school. "Still, your toes are totally thanking me for that right now. Or you should just thank Cosette. It was her idea."

The guy that she knew back in high school was the funny sort, and he never quite understood just why people loved him so much – he was much too awkward with emotions and feelings back then, but a charming smile from him could make most girls forget all about any unintended insults from his side.

"Her toes will be very happy," she quips. "I worried for them."

Marius laughs loudly at that, and she knows their friendship is on the mend. If he can laugh at her stupid sense of humor again, they are definitely going to be okay.

"She actually did ballet after she got adopted," he confides in her.

"I think Enjolras has taken dance classes too," she stage whispers to him before he lets her spin away in an exaggerated turn, making her giggle loudly at the dizziness that follows. "He just won't confirm it, but he's too good at it not to have been taught."

That is just one of the many things that she still has to find out about the fake love of her life: he is an extremely good dancer – at least she thinks so, not that she has all that many guys to compare him to. He has this grace about him that is part his having a wealthy upper-class background and part learned behavior. She has to get some more information about this out of him somehow. The curiosity is going to kill her.

"I am glad he makes you so happy," Marius smiles at her fondly.

"I have not smiled this much in a while," she admits, and she is not even lying about that part, because she wants to quit lying to Marius. "I can't believe I did not see him sooner."

In a way, she is not even lying about that last part. She has seen him as nothing more than the Marble Man stick in the mud for years now, and if this stupid charade has made anything better, it is her view on Gabriel Enjolras. He is much more complex than she has given her credit for, and she probably never would have gotten through the ordeal as well as she has if it had not been for him. R would have let her jump out of that cake, and the other boys would not have been able to stop her. Her 'Jolras did stop her.

"I never thought that the two of you would ever be able to get along," Marius is pondering their relationship now. "I knew the both of you in college and I will never forget that night when you told him to… Well, I do not even remember exactly what you said. I just remember that it was anatomically impossible and that it pissed him off. How you two got from there to happy in love is just beyond me."

She does not know if anyone remembers just what she said that night, but it was pretty much the turning point in an already complicated relationship. She was never going to like asshole Enjolras and he was never going to like her. But then life happened.

"I guess that we just grew up," she tells him, because they have both changed.

"We have all grown up," Marius scrunches up his face at the cliché of it all. "But I figured if him kicking your boyfriend's ass did not change a thing, then nothing would."

What Marius is talking about this time is just beyond her – and just the mere mention of that asshole Montparnasse is enough to make her flinch until the event Marius mentions actually starts to ring a bell. She knows that one of Marius' buddies gave her then boyfriend a stern talking to and that the guy probably threatened the asshole in a very serious way, but she does not remember enough about that night to figure out who her savior was. Only now she does, because who else could it have been but her knight in shining armor? He was saving her even way back when he hated her.

"It was Enjolras?" she has to verify this idea, because she cannot believe it.

"You did not know it was him?" Marius questions her in return.

In the mess of the few memories that she still has of that night, the words that her loving boyfriend spoke to her stand out the most. The words that he said will never lose their power to hurt her – just as much as the wounds still sting at times.

"My eye was kind of swollen shut," she shrugs as if the abuse did not matter.

"Eppie," Marius shoots a quick glance at the scar on her neck.

The scar is not that big or obvious, and only a few people even know that she has the remnants of a knife wound on her neck – Marius and the asshole being two of them, and her mysterious savior rounding out the group. She has never witnessed Enjolras paying any kind of particular attention to the small scar – though he has left a few hickeys on her neck and collarbone for the purpose of their charade.

"Look, that was years ago and I don't want to talk about him," she feels the skin surrounding the scar itching. "Just tell me that it was really 'Jolras."

When Marius nods, she is once again stunned into silence by just how much she owes her 'Jolras. She knows that he saved her life that night, because that hit he prevented was not the first of the night, and it would not have been the last either. She might have lived, or she might not have – the bleeding on her neck would have stopped eventually, but the blood loss was still pretty bad by the time she got to the hospital. She went to the hospital on her own that night, after running far, far away from Montparnasse and her mysterious savior, which is not something that she is particularly proud of. Her instincts took over and she ran away, leaving her savior with the most dangerous man she knew.

"I never saw his stupid face," she mutters, almost too distracted to dance.

"I got to the hospital because he told me you were there," Marius admits then.

She skips a step in their dance because this old information is overwhelming and her scar is still itching and now also stinging a little. It is certainly her closest call with death, and she occasionally still has nightmares of that day – nobody knows that about her.

"I cannot start crying," she keeps repeating that under her breath.

"I told you not to upset her," her savior himself shows up, seemingly angry with Marius for something. "Yet here she is, trying not to cry. What did you do this time?"

At the sound of his voice, she immediately lets go of Marius and turns to face him, probably with the hints of tears shining in her eyes. She is not that emotional of a person, and definitely not in public, but she cannot forget about this monumental revelation. Her dear 'Jolras is also her knight in shining armor and her mysterious savior. She is not sure if she is ever going to be able to thank him enough for being there that night.

"You were my savior that night," she holds her hand to his cheek.

"What are you talking about?" he tries to wipe away the tears that keep threatening to fall. "What night are you talking about? Please stop crying, 'Ponine."

As she takes another deep breath to keep from dissolving into a blubbering mess, his strong arms wrap around her once again – he has once again succumbed to his knight instincts and he has to keep her safe from any and all kinds of harm.

"You made Montparnasse go away," her voice is almost childlike with wonder.

"You told her, did you not," Enjolras immediately turns an accusing eye on Marius.

Why would he be so angry with Marius about him revealing his heroic act? She cannot help but be so grateful for Marius for telling her this secret, and be even more grateful that her Gabriel was there that night to save her life. She has no idea what to say about it to him other than thank you, and she knows that is not nearly enough.

"Thank you," she tells him anyway, before kissing him sweetly.

She makes this different from their previous kisses on purpose, because this kiss is not for the same purpose as those other kisses. This one is purely meant for the two of them, and not for any person watching them together. This kiss is meant to show him how much he has already come to mean to her. It is meant to show him how grateful she is to still be alive today to share this moment with him. This kiss means everything that she can give to him, so it is soft and gentle and warm and almost loving.

When she breaks away from him, she sways back into him with the sheer want of doing that again, but she knows that she cannot do that. He is staring at her with so much surprise in those eyes that have turned darker with want. She aches.

"You can still see the scar," he then notices the line on her neck.

His hand is easily led to that very place, and he is softly stroking the skin before she has even thought about the liberties that she is currently granting him. She never lets anyone get this close to her heart and mind and soul, but he is touching her skin with such reverence that the only response she has is a shuddered breath – she has to make a real effort not to start purring like a cat at his very touch.

"I will leave the two of you to it," Marius steps away with a big grin on his face.

He lets his hand drop from her neck to her waist, obviously meaning to start dancing with her. She wishes that they could have stayed like they were before, but the electricity that starts crackling when his other hand reaches her waist as well is too strong for her to resist. His hands are warm and still so gentle, and she can feel them through the fabric of her pretty red dress. Instead of looping her arms around his neck like they did before, she chooses to pillow her head on his chest.

She just needs to hear his heart beating strong.

It starts to feel way too intimate for a fake relationship within a minute, and she resumes her previous position with her arms around his neck, too afraid and confused to even look him in the eyes. His thumbs are moving on her waist, and a shiver rolls down her spine so slowly that she wonders if it will ever stop – and if she even wants it to.

He stops after that shiver, and before she can tell herself to stay silent she speaks up.

"Don't stop," she breathes, since she does not want the feeling to go away.

There is no way to move closer to him without the two of them breaking the laws of physics, so she has to stay as she is, feeling the thrum of his body touching hers in so many places – this sexual frustration thing does not seem to be going away any time soon, and she has no idea how to deal with it when he is so close to her all of the time, tempting her just by being who he is. Fuck, shit, bugger, crap. Fuck!

She starts playing with the hair at his nape as her stupid way to get revenge for the feelings of heat threatening to take over her body. Her nails are not long and manicured like the nails of most of the girls he could be with right now, but she manages to exert the right kind of pressure to make him groan softly.

They are trying to be subtle in front of Marius' family and their friends, but there is obviously something going on between the two of them that not even she understands.

"This is not suitable," he manages to stammer.

"Just stop talking," she shushes him gently, pressing her hips into his.

That coaxes another sharp breath from him, which was the goal of it anyway. With a quick look around, she makes sure that they are not being watched too attentively by anyone – which gives her enough reason to continue.

"Éponine," he breathes her name, and it makes everything even more electric.

Only she cannot say anything in response, because saying his first name would completely break the spell – he would flinch away from her and everything would be over. His last name would just be weird in an intimate moment like this one, and she does not want to call him by a stupid nickname meant only to annoy him. There is nothing that she can say, because there is still so much hidden beneath the surface that he refuses to talk about with her. There are too many secrets still.

The moment is over when another dancing couple bumps into them. Their dance stills as the music changes to something happy and upbeat. All they can do is stare at each other.

"Let's dance, bitches," R is obviously pretty drunk.

"Go drink some water first," she orders him around. "Then come back for a dance."

Enjolras seems very surprised that R manages to follow that order, as their friend rushes towards the bar, and quickly comes back to show them a glass filled with clear liquid – she sniffs it to make sure it's not alcoholic, and he throws it back in one big gulp.

"Good boy," Enjolras responds with a roll of his eyes.

They are both unhappy with the interruption of their moment – she can tell because his gaze alone manages to lift her core temperature by several degrees – and they are trying not to let it show too much to R. Enjolras stares at her and she can still feel phantom fingers rubbing back and worth around her waist and his thighs pressed against hers, even though they are now a few feet apart, with R right next to them.

"Put on your boogie shoes," R shouts, before grabbing some of their other friends.

She has gotten more than enough proof that Gabriel Enjolras is indeed physically attracted to her, but she still has absolutely no idea what to do about it – if she should actually do something about it. While she has no doubts that the sex between the two of them has the potential to be totally hot, she thinks the fallout of giving in to that attraction has the potential to be a total catastrophe. He is her friend now, and she does not randomly sleep with her friends – especially not her celibate friends, of which there is only one. Which is basically how this problem started.

"These heels are not boogie shoes," she whispers to 'Jolras, sotto voce.

"Let me know when you need a pick-me-up," he replies to that, still so witty even at a tense moment like this one. "Or if you need the boys to carry your shoes."

Just as she wants to give him an equally witty response to that, R comes back, dragging his poor date and several of the Amis and their dates along with him. He is the life of the party as usual, and while some of the Amis act like they do not want to be out on the dance floor, they are secretly enjoying it very much – she knows the boys well enough.

Jehan begins to dance like he just escaped from the ballet, and Melody follows his lead without hesitation – the girl is a professional after all, having danced Swan Lake more times than even she can stomach. Joe Leigh and Bossuet look on with love, and Éponine really does not want to get into that relationship dynamic. As long as it works for them, she is going to be okay with it. As soon as there is trouble, she will be ready to kick butt.

"You must dance with me," R orders her, neglecting his date.

"Dance with your date first," she orders in return, feeling immature enough to stick her tongue out at him. "This is protocol, dude. Have you still not learned?"

Of course, protocol is not the only reason why she has yet again found herself dancing with her 'Jolras. She just really wants to continue being close to him and having fun while he is right there having fun with her. So she lets him launch her into the most ridiculously exaggerated swing dance moves with a big smile on her face. He is really going for it, and seeing him relatively loose and relaxed is just another aphrodisiac for her want for him, but she can hold that off just a bit longer.

"I might be hesitant to part with my date," Enjolras leads her into a spin.

"He likes me," she quips, eyes wide. "He really likes me!"

That line is followed by a deep dip that leaves her hair almost touching the floor and her leg practically wrapped around his waist – she trusts him to not let her fall, but she knows that R can be a tool and ruin the moment by 'accidentally' bumping into the two of them, hoping they will fall to the floor in a blur of tangled limbs. Basically, R just wants the two of them to end up on top of each other – and that is not happening in public.

The last addendum to that thought is still a surprise to her, because she had never thought to be so attracted to this guy. Now that she is, she still has no idea how to proceed with it, so she is going to try not to think about it too much.

He seems to be making that last part quite difficult by just being himself.

"My turn," she shouts as she spins him around this time.

"Excellent, my lady," is the pleased response from him. "We are doing well."

They are a couple of dorks, and she has no problem with that at the moment. When she is with the Amis, her "give a damn" complex – at least when it comes to embarrassment – is just completely busted, because she is having too much fun to care even the slightest bit about just what other people might think of them. It is much more interesting to look at Melody changing dancing styles from serious ballet to krumping without missing a beat, and Jehan pulling out silly moves nobody even knew that he had. This is better.

"Your friends are hilarious," she can hear R's date saying.

"That we are," she shouts at the couple, feeling free and happy for the first time in a very long while. "Just stay with us long enough and it will rub off on you."

As soon as she is done talking, she is immediately whisked away from Enjolras again by an overzealous Jehan, who leads her on an exaggerated version of a tango, making her giggle like the innocent teenage girl she never got to be.

She loves these boys – she loves all of them, she really does.

Marius' grandfather is looking on disapprovingly, but even the newlyweds themselves have now joined the group, mixing moves from every dancing style that they have ever known. R is busting out a pretty decent robot with his date, and Cosette is busting some salsa moves. She is quickly joined by Feuilly, who is surprisingly good at most forms of ballroom and Latin dancing. Marius is distracted by his bride's dancing, leaving him open for a sneak attack in the form of Courfeyrac making him do the running man and any other old Hammer move that he can think of.

She can barely breathe because she is laughing so loudly. Jehan is almost disappointed that she cannot keep dancing, but he keeps going until Enjolras steals her back again.

"Hello you," he is smiling at her in his typical beatific way.

The person she most wants to dance with for the rest of her night is him, so she quickly decides to place one hand in his and the other near his shoulder, trying to take the right position for ballroom dancing. He follows her lead almost immediately, and the warmth of his hand on her shoulder blade only fans the fire already going inside of her.

"You took lessons, did you not?" she just has to ask him that.

"My parents made me do it," he finally confesses – or it feels like 'finally' to her. "I am now proficient in a number of dance styles. Which style would you like to start with?"

It is everything that she ever wanted, to be honest. She likes to dance and have fun, and now she got him to reveal his dancing skills without prodding too much. And he is still touching her, which is basically the best bonus she could ever ask for on this. His hand burns right through the little fabric between it and the skin of her back, and she is honestly just so tempted to try to seduce him this night – she knows that she might even succeed by the way his fingers move on her skin and the way his eyes continue to burn with the same want for her as she has for him. Can she risk it? Does she want to risk it?

"Anything," she breathes, and she is not just talking about dancing anymore.

She is tempted to just stay like this forever – no thoughts of work or stupid thoughts of still loving Marius – everything would be okay and she would be warm and safe. The only downside appears that she would be eternally turned on without ever having the opportunity for release. That would really suck.

"I am very tempted to quote this Anastasia scene," she ponders as he leads her around the dance floor with style and grace. "But we have not stopped spinning yet!"

There is not that much spinning, but she is still so breathless and close to feeling dizzy from this trance they are in. She would not be able to tell where her other friends are, and she would not even be able to tell you where Marius was. She is barely able to remember her own name at this point, because they have spun a world with this dance where nothing hurts and everything is warm and beautiful and fucking hot!

"Do you want to stop?" he asks her then, slightly breathless.

"Keep going," her voice is hoarse and makes her think of other things.

In her mind, they are in bed and he is once again doing everything right and she is begging him not to stop doing what he is doing. She never begs for anything, especially not in bed, but for him she would do it twice.

"I won't stop," he promises in return, and her breath hitches.

"What are we doing?" she has to ask him, and she hopes it will not ruin their moment.

He is quiet for a while as he tries to formulate the right answer, and they continue to take turns around the room while still in their own little world. The music feels barely audible over the loud beating of her heart, and there is nothing else to think about other than these feelings and his touch and his nearness. There is nothing else but him, and that is just about the most terrifying thing in the whole wide world.

"I don't know either," is the only response he has for her.

This attraction is probably even more terrifying for him than it is for her. Sure, he has not been in love with someone else for most of his life like she has been with Marius since she was about eleven years old, but he has probably never felt this way, making it all the more scary to him. She cannot convince him to throw years of celibacy away over an attraction that she cannot even deal with herself. She has better forget about this along with her stupid feelings for Marius – she has to keep trying to let it go.

"I am sorry for ruining your perfect celibacy record," she tells him, sad smile on her face.

"Nothing is ruined yet," he tells her, careful to keep his face completely blank.

His use of the word ruin makes her wonder if she should even bother with this, because she knows that he will be ruined if she tries this with him – she is terrible at dealing with men once the sex is over and the day has dawned. It would be a really bad thing.

"Dance with me," R takes her away from her 'Jolras.

"Thank you," she tells him, hoping that her confused feelings do not show.

Apparently she is quite obvious to her friend, because the worried look on R's face really does not suit the happy atmosphere at this wedding. Still, she has no need to talk of this any longer than she absolutely has to, and he seems to understand that, because he drags her into the middle of the group of men and their dates, leaving them to perform the silliest dance moves that they can possibly think of at that moment.

She is in the middle of the Carlton when she spots him looking at the group with a sad look on his face. This makes her all the more determined to just be his friend. She cannot ruin the dynamics of this group; she decides this as Combeferre drags Enjolras into the group with the rest of them. These men are her friends, and she will not ruin that.

AN: Say it with me… AWWWWWWWW. Anyway, just let me know your favorite parts/lines/EVERYTHING! Chapter twelve will be a change of pace, so get ready for that – I do know chapter thirteen will be a fan favorite. Love you all!


	13. Chapter Twelve

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: I don't think Victor Hugo would get demands to hook these two up already =P

AN: I am overwhelmed by all of the love I have gotten for that last chapter. You all have no idea how much that means to me – when bitches try to get me down, I can think of all of you and believe that I'm worth something. Thank you!

Chapter twelve: Awkward is the Watchword

They are an hour away from home when she realizes that everything could change the very second they land. Their adventure is over – and they managed to convince Marius and repair a very broken friendship – and now there is absolutely nothing left between the two of them. He could walk away and never have to see her again.

His hands are clinging to his seat tightly, and she wonders if he is actually afraid of flying and he just does not want to talk about that with her. Bringing it up would probably just make things awkward, so she promises herself to stay silent a bit longer.

"Would you two care for another drink?" another visit from a flight attendant.

"We'll both have a glass of water," she orders for the both of them, seeing as her 'Jolras appears to be trying to keep the plane in the air by force of will.

The flight attendant nods and prepares the drinks for the both of them, as Enjolras continues to stare straight ahead. She smiles at the other woman as she takes the drinks and prepares to coax 'Jolras back into the land of the living, functional people. The plastic cups are cool in her hands, and she carefully turns closer to him, hoping that he will respond to her presence rather than leaving her to throw his water at him.

"Do you want your water in your mouth or over your head?" she jokes.

"What are you talking about?" he has awoken from his trance and takes one of the cups from her. "Don't start a water fight on a plane, Éponine."

It would be a lovely idea to start a water fight anywhere, but she really does not want to cause trouble on the way home as well – he just might kill her for that, especially now that he appears to be so very stressed and tense. She has many ways to make him relax, but he would probably consider most of those ways to be completely indecent – and they probably would be really complicated on a plane. It would be too easy to get discovered and create an even more awkward situation for the both of them.

"Will you still be my friend when we have landed?" she just blurts it out.

"Where is this coming from?" he asks instead of answering her question.

She should not have said a thing, and she knows that well, but she cannot just let this friendship just slip her by because she was too scared to say something. She does not particularly want to show her vulnerable side by admitting that she wants him by her side pretty much for the rest of her life, but she will have to do that when push comes to shove and he will not admit a single thing. She may have given up on ever finding out just how magical his hands are, but she still wants to keep him around.

"You can forget all about me once we have landed," she tries to explain what she means.

It would probably be pretty easy for him to let her go. He would even be better off without the stupid attraction distracting him from the person that he wants to be. He has better things to achieve than to have sex with her, and if he lets her go those things will be more easily accomplished. She would only be a stupid afterthought at that point.

"Why would you think that I would do that?" he seems surprised at the idea.

"I have never had a real friend who was not Marius," she feels embarrassed at having to explain her stupid life story. "I do not have the best luck with these things."

There have been mistakes before, of girls who only wanted to be her friend to get closer to Marius, or of men who were only friends with her to hopefully get some good sex out of her. Marius has been her only exception so far, and while Enjolras is a good soul, she would not want him to do anything stupid on her behalf. She really does want to trust him in this, but she does not want to get her hopes up too much either.

"Would you even want me to be your friend?" Enjolras seems skeptical of this.

"Honestly, I am just hanging out with you for your couch," she plays this as straight as she can, her face completely blank. "Now that I have sat on that couch, I am never letting it out of my life again. Basically, you are going to be stuck with me for a long time."

She would spend every night for the rest of her life on that couch if he let her – though that exaggeration may be a bit too much. He will eventually find someone to love who is not a total wreck with a fucked up past who is too traumatized to have a mature and adult relationship with anyone. At that point, she will have to get off that couch and move on again. She is already doing that now, and it does not hurt as much as she expected it would – so she believes that she will be able to do it again.

"As long as I do not get rid of the couch," he tries to be clever.

"You are never going to be allowed to get rid of that couch," she smiles at him.

He should know that he means more to her than that couch ever will, but she is going to let him read between the lines about the couch being more of a metaphor for her need to be close to him for the rest of her natural born life.

"You will just have to convince me," he is positively flirtatious.

"I have my ways," she responds in kind.

They are going to keep getting in trouble if they cannot get this attraction in check.

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A month later

It is just another boring day at work, because not even on her birthday is she excused from conversations with her most troublesome students. She has twenty more minutes to go until she can break for lunch – and spend that time sipping crappy vending machine coffee and waiting for someone to remember that it is, in fact, her birthday.

"Was it really necessary to set the locker on fire, Sebastian?" she puts on her nicest voice.

"It was covered in pictures of Justin Bieber," the disgust and indignation showing on young Sebastian's face makes her fight to hide her laughter. "I cannot let an insult like that go by without retaliation. For Pete's sake, the guy thinks that Anne Frank would have been a Belieber. He is self-absorbed and disgusting, and the presence of his face on the inside of my locker is a disgrace to any person deeming themselves intelligent."

She has to admit that Sebastian Anderson is her new favorite student, because he reminds her of all the most hilarious and rebellious things about her friends. The vocabulary he uses and the tendency that he has towards trying to accomplish some sort of equality and creating a better world; that is all Enjolras. His self-destructive tendencies – like setting lockers on fire – make her think of R and Bahorel, but mostly of her dear R and his cynical ideas on how to change the world for the better. Still, the boy Sebastian is also charming enough to be like Courfeyrac, and well spoken like Jehan, and he has philosophical ideals that remind her of Combeferre.

All in all, Mr. Anderson – oh, honestly, that reference has to get out of her head at some point – is both a delight to have in her office and the most annoying repeat customer that she has ever come across. No matter what she tells him, he will still come back every single week for the rest of his high school career. Still, she continues to try.

"While I agree with you on Bieber's lack of merits," she starts another pointless speech to convince him to end his destruction of school property, "I still cannot condone the destruction of an entire row of lockers. I am sure that you and Emily can figure out a better and more productive way to deal with your differences."

Those two are obviously going to end up having sex within the year. Sebastian Anderson and Emily Dupont are two of the plagues of the school, and their differences of opinion leave the whole school trembling in their wake. She cannot count the times that principal Javert has brought the two of them to her office to talk through their issues – she is just glad that the man does not blame her for being unable to fix the complex relationship between these two students. Nothing has worked so far, and she is starting to think that they should just have sex and deal with the fallout.

It is ridiculous advice to give when she is too scared to take a step like that one.

"Who says that this has anything to do with Dupont?" Sebastian is very evasive.

"I know that she put the Bieber pictures in your locker," she smiles her most terrifying smile at him. "She actually confessed to that to lessen your punishment. It is really adorable how the two of you keep flirting with each other. I just thought that pulling the metaphorical pigtails ended in elementary school."

One day she will catch the two of them making out in one of the typical spots, and when she does she will finally win the stupid bet that she has had with principal Javert since these two were in freshman year. The guy is too clueless about the craziness in high school relationships, and she is happy to take advantage of that so that she will finally be able to afford a decent DVD player so that she can watch movies again rather than say a prayer for her old player to do anything other than threaten to explode again.

"This is not flirting," Sebastian protests the mere idea of it vehemently.

"Maybe it isn't," she goes along with him because she does not want to be just another adult who does not believe him. "There is still the problem of you lighting an entire row of lockers on fire. We will be contacting your parents about this, and they will probably pay for the damage, but I am still not sure how to punish you enough to keep you from doing something like this again when Emily stuffs your locker with One Direction."

Knowing these kids like she does – and she feels that she knows them after over three years of them spending time in her office almost every week – she knows that a similar event is just days away from happening. That is how it has always been.

Emily Dupont and Sebastian Anderson have never gotten along for long.

"One Direction is not nearly as problematic," he immediately starts arguing.

"Do you really want to focus on that part of the discussion?" she lets him think on that.

While she loves that Sebastian has no qualms about admitting that a boy band is not all that bad – most boys his age would be so worried about their masculinity – this is probably not the time to start a discussion on the merits of contemporary pop artists and their connection to deeper issues. This is the point where he grovels like a good little student and promises not to try something like this again. Only she is not sure whether she can believe him, because the stunts that Emily and he keep pulling are escalating and it is getting a bit too dangerous to keep letting it go.

"What was it you wanted to tell me?" he shifts gears and tries to look professional.

"Happy birthday to you," a familiar voice sings as the door opens.

This cannot be happening to her right now. Her 'Jolras is not stepping into her office carrying a mini cheesecake only big enough for two people at the most – with a single candle on top of the adorable food. He does not have a party hat, but he is not wearing a tie and the top buttons on his shirt are not buttoned. She might be drooling on her desk at this point, and she has to pinch herself to make sure that this is actually happening.

"But, 'Jolras," she stammers, lost for words.

It has only been about a week since she last saw him, because they have made a habit of spending one evening a week together. She figures that the Amis put him up to it, but she is not going to mind if it leads to situations like the one that they were in two weeks ago, when she was clumsy and spilled wine on his shirt. She got a nice look at him shirtless, until he got embarrassed and covered himself up. So not only did she get to spend a nice evening with a friend – she also got some ogling done.

"Is this your boyfriend, Miss T?" Sebastian looks happy at this bit of gossip.

"This is none of your business, Sebastian," she reprimands, but she also knows that it is too late to keep a lid on this thing. "We are going to reschedule our meeting for after lunch. You need to come up with a list of punishments for yourself by then."

Honestly, she is just trying to distract him from what is going on right in front of him, even though she knows that while Sebastian is a lot of thing, stupid is definitely not one of them. She wishes she could have planned a clueless freshman for this spot, but she hardly ever finds a clueless freshman in her office – they never cause trouble.

"Sebastian Anderson," her student is completely disregarding her.

"Gabriel Enjolras," her 'Jolras just goes along with it, placing the precious cheesecake in front of her to attempt to distract her with it. "Happy birthday, 'Ponine."

Sebastian is staring at the two of them with thinly-disguised interest, and she really just wants to send him away, but Enjolras is right there and looking at her with those eyes of his and there is no way that she can even think of anything other than him.

"Why are you here?" she is trying not to freak out too much.

"I am taking you to lunch for your birthday," he is too calm for this. "But first, I want to congratulate you on turning twenty-eight, if you will let me."

Judging by the look on his face, she should really send her student away before the boy catches an eyeful of something seriously inappropriate. Enjolras is looking as if he basically wants to devour her, and she is thinking of places where she can demand to have a birthday kiss – and she is not even thinking about her mouth.

"You can go now, Sebastian," she sends the boy away from her office.

"Have fun with your boyfriend," the cheeky little shit says before he scampers off.

She does want to call that shit out on it, but at the moment she is much more interested in locking her office door behind him so that she and 'Jolras can have some privacy for their celebration – she is not intending for this to sound as dirty as it does, but the chemistry is still there after a month, and she is still so very frustrated about not being able to move on from these feelings. She still wants him too badly.

"How about a birthday kiss?" Enjolras smiles at her, and she takes a deep breath.

Instead of giving him an answer to his question verbally, she struts over to where he is standing and yanks his face closer to hers, sealing their lips together in a kiss that is as electric as it is dangerous to her sanity. His mouth still fits over hers perfectly, and he can still do that magical thing with his tongue that makes her moan a little too loudly for their current circumstances. For a couple that started out as just being faked for their friend's benefit, the chemistry between the two of them is certainly very real.

"Hey," he tells her as they break apart to breathe.

"Hey you," she replies, fighting the grin that is threatening to take over her face.

She feels like a stupid and naïve teenager in love, and that is the most terrifying thing in the world because Enjolras is just her friend who is trying to make her happy on her stupid birthday, and they are not going to be any more than friends – friends who have made out on several occasions and are way too attracted to each other to stay platonic.

Fuck! She is going to get hurt again, and she already knows it.

"Another kiss for luck?" she pleads, because she does not want it to be over yet.

He acquiesces and pulls her close for another kiss, and even though it is probably the worst thing that she could be doing at this point, she lets him sit her down on her desk and she wraps her legs around his waist. Their frames are now so close together it would be almost impossible for air to find its way between the two of them. He moves his kisses from her mouth to her neck and she gasps into the silent office.

"Please, 'Jolras," she finds herself begging.

There will be multiple hickeys on her neck after this birthday visit, and she cannot find it in herself to feel sorry about that, no matter how much her students will attempt to gossip about this, or how much they will try to tease her about it.

His only response to her passionate pleas for him to please go on is to suck harder at her neck and to rock his hips gently into hers, completely taking her breath away as she feels herself getting more and more turned on by his actions. She wants him so badly, and she digs her nails into his clothes back to pull him even closer to her.

Her hands move to his ass almost without thought, and as she pulls him closer again, something seems to change within him, and he takes a step back from her.

"What's wrong?" she asks, feeling colder without him surrounding her.

Speaking up does not help, because it only makes him take another step away from where she is, left on her own desk with her clothes all askew, her hair messed up, and several big hickeys forming on her neck. She does not even know what she did wrong, but he is now on the other side of her office and he seems to be having problems looking her in the eyes. They are both breathing hard, but there is no other sound.

"Enjolras?" she calls his name, hoping that will bring him back somehow.

"Shall we go out for lunch?" he pretends as if absolutely nothing happened between the two of them just now. "My treat. There is a great place just around the corner."

There is nothing else to do but to right her clothes and to grab her lovely cheesecake – they are so lucky that they did not ruin the thing during their more passionate moments together – because he has nothing else to say to her at this point.

Would this be the moment when she alienated him from her forever?

"Let me just grab my birthday cake," she tries to joke as he unlocks the door.

With all of her stuff with her, she still does not feel ready to leave the relative sanctuary of her office to spend more time in public with him. She hopes that the forming hickeys are not going to be too obvious to her students, because they will definitely call her out on making out with her boyfriend during school hours, in the office where she is supposed to stay professional at all times. Yep, she screwed up big time.

As she follows 'Jolras out the room and into the hallway, she mentally prepares herself.

"Nice going Miss T," some of the popular girls are cheering her on.

She tries to ignore the catcalls and cheering as much as she can, but she is aware that there is a blush creeping up on her – his face is red as well, which is pretty much the only bonus of the whole thing. Still, they are both silent until they are outside.

There is nothing to say about this situation.

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She could ignore the first five-minute silence and write it off as a product of the awkward Birthday Kiss Incident, but now that there is even more silence between the two of them, she knows that she really has to do something about it.

"Can you please just look at me again?" she asks, her voice cracking.

Her cheesecake is carefully boxed up, after having blown out the candle on the first go, leading to the first long awkward silence. She gets to take that back to work and to her apartment, where she can eat it all by herself as she spends her birthday alone, because Azelma is out of town for work and Gavroche has a big paper she ordered him to work on rather than to attempt to cheer her up on this dreadful day. It was supposed to be a good one, but everything changed when Marius married Cosette.

"Are you doing anything else to celebrate your birthday?" he ignores her question.

"There is not much to do," she tells him, tired of his evasiveness, but ready to play along with him for now. "I have to work this afternoon, and I have to work again tomorrow, so there is no partying for me. Besides, my sister is out of town, and my brother has one of the biggest papers in the world left to write. I am just going to go to bed early."

He has nothing interesting to say to that, or at least, that is how it seems when the look on his face does not change and he says nothing in response to her explanation of her stupid first world problems. She feels like an idiot, because it should not matter that she does not really have anyone to spend her twenty-eighth birthday with, because she is more than old enough to be responsible about this. She would not even want to go out and party like she did in college, but she really does not want to be alone on her birthday either, no matter what she said to her siblings. Ugh, she is a bit of a mess.

"That sounds like a very responsible birthday," he echoes her thoughts.

"It also sounds really boring," she laughs darkly, knowing now that he will not care.

His form is hunched on one of the restaurant's fancy seats and he is not looking her in the eyes. Instead he appears to be eyeing the pretty blonde waitress who has constantly been trying to flirt with him. Just the idea of him looking at this other woman tears her to pieces. She is jealous over a man who is never going to be hers.

Once again, she has picked the most complicated guy.

"Well, we can't all be the partying kind," his voice is trying to sound reassuring.

"What are your plans for the day?" she is forced to ask a stupid, casual question because he is just not giving her anything else to go with. "No wild parties?"

She cannot even picture him at any wild parties. The wildest party that he has ever been to was Marius' bachelor party, and that was only wild for him because R tricked him with the drinks, and because he had to look at her in that stupid piece of trash dress – strictly to convince her to not jump out of a damn cake. She was a mess that night too, and he once again had to come to the rescue. While she appreciates him being there for her, she wishes that she would not need so much of his help.

On her twenty-eighth birthday, she is still strong and independent.

"It is my friend's birthday," he is finally noticing her presence again. "So I am just going to be around until she decides that she is sick of me."

They share a smile and she knows that even if she can never have anything more of him, at least she will still be able to have his friendship. That has to be enough.

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She is back in her office when she hears the commotion starting in the hallway.

"I do not believe you," she recognizes the voice of Emily Dupont, and she immediately fears another big outburst between her and Sebastian Anderson. "You really saw Miss T with her secret boyfriend? And he was that famous lawyer?"

Wait, her 'Jolras is actually famous as a lawyer? That is a twist. She has not been to his work, and he does not like to talk about it too much when he is with her – even though she is still really interested in his cases, because he always manages to pick the people who need his help the most. He is a kind soul like very few other lawyers in this corrupt world, and she just knows that he has saved so many people already.

"How is Curly famous?" Sebastian asks the question loudly.

"He is the best human rights lawyer in the state," Emily argues vehemently, always interested in knowing something that Sebastian does not know. "He just finished this huge gay rights case. My moms are probably some of his biggest fans."

That makes her just about burst with pride, because he is her 'Jolras and she is just so happy that people are starting to see just how amazing he is.

"So miss T is doing the super lawyer?" Sebastian makes himself sound stupid.

"Do not try that trick on me," Emily has to call him out on it. "You like miss T, and not just because she's attractive. Do not act like a dumbass because you are trying to make sure that you are overheard and sent to her office again."

These two just want to know what is going on with her and Enjolras, and she is going to be a little wrong and go about her usual conversations with them differently. She can use this interest that they have in her relationship to get these two kids to maybe reveal things about themselves and to get them to cooperate a bit more in the future. It may be a bit unethical of her to go about it this way, but she is going to try a way that works.

"I have an appointment," Sebastian sounds smug.

"And you are late," she enters into the conversation, surprising both of the teenagers who were way too caught up in each other to notice her. "Both of you, in here. Now!"

That scares them into complying, which makes things a lot easier for her. They both sit down in their assigned chairs – they debated which chair to sit in the first time they were here, so she assigned them seats to make them stop fighting.

"Discussing the personal lives of teachers and faculty members is not appropriate," she chides the both of them. "I know that he should not have been at the school, and I have told him that, but my private life is still not up for discussion by anyone."

It will not stop the rumors that are currently flying around the school, but it will make them keep it from where she can hear, and that is all that she can ask for at this point – with the hickeys that he left still coloring her neck and her mind still muddled after the most awkward lunch that she has ever experienced.

"You are really with Gabriel Enjolras?" Emily has to ask her.

"I have known 'Jolras for about ten years now," is all that she admits to in front of these students. "Now will you two get to the bottom of the locker incident for me? Destruction of school property is much more serious business at this point in time."

The shared look between the two of them reminds her of her partner in crime days almost a month ago, when things were still so much simpler between her and Enjolras and she could still look at him without wanting to tear his clothes off. She cannot deal with these feelings for much longer, and she is tempted to have a one-night-stand to take the edge of, only sleeping with someone other than him would feel wrong. That makes her suspicious that her feelings are more than lust and friendship, which is not something that she needs in her life ever again – not after this thing with Marius.

She cannot wreck his celibacy for her own selfish needs.

Her phone rings, sounding out the tones of "the Revolution" by the Beatles, which is Enjolras' ringtone of choice – she think it rather suits him. She smiles as she picks up.

"Hey you," she echoes their previous words without even thinking about them.

"You forgot your cheesecake," he stammers in response.

Her students are bound to figure out just who is calling her just by the stupid look on her face and the way she is smiling as if there is a coat hanger stuck in her mouth. This whole thing between her and Enjolras is ridiculous. It really needs to stop.

"You can come by and bring it to my office," she finds herself flirting.

"I know what happened there last time," he replies, his voice taking on that hoarse quality that she loves so much. "Maybe we should not risk it. There are too many impressionable students around, and you are supposed to be working."

She was working until he interrupted her – just saying. But sure, she will continue working because she actually really likes this job and these kids that she is taking care of – even if she only sees most of them about once a week or less. She knows most of the kids in this school and while some of them can be absolute shits, she will listen to all of them and help them when they need her to. She likes working here.

"I still want my birthday cake," she pouts, even though he won't be able to see it.

"You can come by my place and pick it up after work," he offers.

If she goes by his place, she will first have to make out with his couch a bit more – meaning that she will dive on top of it and not let go for most of the night, which is a pretty good comparison to her making out with an actual person. There is just much less kissing, but she is usually more comfortable with the couch than with a person – unless it is the owner of said awesome couch, when he is not being too awkward.

"Let's have dinner," she does her best Irene Adler impression.

"As long as you are just talking of dinner," he seems to have understood the reference.

This is just another piece of evidence that he does not want them to be anything more than they already are. And with the way that he was keeping his distance from her at lunch, she is worried that they might downgrade from friends to casual acquaintances who rarely see each other. She is once again the more invested person in a friendship.

"Scout's honor," she jokes. "I'm getting back to work. See you tonight!"

It is easier to hang up before he gets another chance to say something that she really does not want to hear. This situation is getting much too familiar.

Fuck! Does this mean she is aiming for a relationship rather than just sex?

"So, you two," she sits down and addresses her students to distract herself from these painful truths. "Tell me just what went on with Bieber and the fiery lockers."

AN: Yes, I had to get in a few digs at Bieber. My apologies – but as a Dutchie I was super offended by the Anne Frank situation.

Also: Sebastian Anderson is a shout-out to the name I've seen used for Enjolras often, and the last name is because of my Darren Criss obsession. Sorry not sorry. (And yes, there was another Sherlock reference.)

I love you all! Let me know your favorite parts/lines/etcetera in reviews/comments!


	14. Chapter Thirteen

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: Only this story is my own – I don't own the characters. Sadly.

AN: This is Mary's favorite chapter, so this chapter is dedicated to her! If you don't know who Mary is – shame on you. Go follow her on Tumblr (eponnjolras) and go read her story Tides (as AliceInSomewhereland here on )

**Chapter thirteen: Guess what happens at dinner?**

After a day like the one she has been having, all she wants to do is eat chocolate and/or cheesecake and watch a nice movie from the comfort of her own bed. But her stupid birthday cheesecake is still at Enjolras' place and now she is going to dinner with him too, wondering if she should have dressed up more for this occasion.

"Door's open," he calls out as she fixes her stupid clothes once more.

"I can see that," she replies sarcastically as she pushes the door open without any kind of resistance. "I also see that you have no issues with burglars? Don't leave your door open in a fancy place like yours, 'Jolras. What would you do if your couch gets stolen?"

So she makes a joke out of it instead of being too serious about this. There are just too many seriously delicious smells coming from his kitchen, and these smells are distracting enough to keep her from cracking her usual jokes or to start her worrying about the risks he took just to have her enter his apartment unobstructed.

"I am just a little too busy to open the door for you," he shouts from the kitchen.

"I locked it behind me," she responds, wanting to make sure they are safe.

It is kind of intriguing, combining the amazing smells from the kitchen with his mysterious attitude about the whole thing. She is not stupid enough to think that he is doing anything other than cooking in his kitchen, but the smells have not yet been able to tell her just what he is making in there. It could be pizza, but it could also be pasta, but there is a distinct scent of Italian food in the air. It smells wonderful.

"Go sit at the dinner table," he orders from his safe and distant spot.

"What the heck are you even doing in there?" she asks, following his orders because it is probably important for some reason. "Where are we going for dinner?"

Okay, so she is only asking that stupid question to make him tell her something about just what he is cooking for her – she has yet to find out the exact thing that she needs to do in order to make him reveal all of his exciting secrets. She keeps trying.

"We are eating at Casa Enjolras," is the response from the kitchen. "The first dish will be served in about a minute. Please make yourself comfortable until then."

A minute is too long to wait for this, but she is just going to try to keep her mind occupied long enough. But all she can come up with as a topic for her mind to occupy itself with is the man currently cooking her dinner, and the way that she still has so many new things to find out about him. There are still so many things to learn.

"I didn't know you could cook," she ponders the idea out loud.

"I don't often have the time for it," he tells her, still in a raised voice.

He is still hiding in the kitchen, and the anticipation is going to kill her because the best smells are still coming from the kitchen and there is nothing she can do but wait.

"Well, lucky me, I guess," she is trying to tease him.

"Please withhold your judgment until you've actually tasted some of my food," he says.

"It's very kind of you to bother," she has to let him know that this means a lot to her.

No one has cooked for her in years – not since she still loved her parents and she was too young to cook her own dinners. That means it was probably close to twenty years ago, and that tells her that while her life is sad and pathetic, she now has someone who is willing to go the distance to make her feel better. He is willing to be a true friend to her, and he is doing these adorable things that only make her care about him more.

That is definitely going to be a problem.

"I couldn't have my favorite partner in crime spending her birthday in her apartment, alone," Enjolras sounds almost offended at the mere idea, and she smiles at that.

There have been many birthdays that she had to spend alone, and while she did not particularly want to repeat that experience, she was fully prepared to spend another night in bed with a glass of wine and a sappy movie.

"I hope I am your only partner in crime," she just wants to be special to him.

"Let me have my secrets," he offers her, "and I will let you have yours."

Only she really does not want him to keep any more secrets from her, just as she does not want to keep secrets from him any longer. She has these feelings that she does not want to talk about, but she also really wants to tell him about them so that they can move on from this madness and stay good friends. It is never going to be anything other than friendship between the two of them, and if she tells him about these feelings she will be able to get over them and move on yet again. She can do this!

"Is the food ready?" she whines, not wanting to think anymore.

"Good things come to those who wait," he sounds teasing even from far away.

She has waited so very long for Marius to finally see her, and that all came to nothing in the end, so she doubts that this stupid saying is even remotely true. Still, she can wait the last stupid seconds for her dinner, because that at least might live up to expectations.

"I have waited enough," she cannot make herself sound as teasing as she wants to sound.

"Lucky for you, the food is actually done," he speaks and the door to the kitchen opens.

Enjolras comes out, carrying two gigantic plates of food, both of them covered by one of those fancy cover things that she could never afford herself. The whole scene looks as if they are at a fancy restaurant in a movie, and she wants to go along with that stupid fantasy scenario for as long as she possibly can. It is her only way of having a date with him, no matter that they are once again only pretending – or that it is all in her head.

"Food!" she grins at the bringer of lovely food as she bounces in her seat.

"I see that the anticipation has been getting to you," he seems amused at her antics.

He puts the plates down and lets her uncover them, revealing a bowl of delicious-looking soup on one side of the gigantic plate in front of her, and a dish of lasagna on the other side – and that is looking particularly mouthwatering. Honestly, this is her favorite kind of food, so she has eaten it about a million times in her life, but somehow this is already more appetizing than anything that she has ever put in her mouth – and she is not even trying to be dirty right now, though there are some other things that she would also want to put in her mouth if they ever chose to go down that road.

"You did not buy this at a restaurant, did you?" she just has to make sure.

"I am flattered that you have this much faith in me and my abilities," he seems insulted at the thought of him lying to her about this – so it has to be all his.

There are already so many thinks that she appreciates about him, and now she finds out that he is an amazing cook too – honestly, she is starting to doubt that there are any good qualities left for the other men in the world.

"That was my way of saying that it looks really good," she tries to make him see.

"Just wait until you try the main course," he, of course, has to take his revenge on her.

The lasagna is already tempting her, even though the delicious soup is just sliding down her throat and she is enjoying it so much that there might have been some special sound effects after she took the first bite. He is looking at her while she is eating, and she knows that he cannot be experiencing his own food in enough detail because he is too busy enjoying her eating experience. It is making her want to be even more obvious about her enjoyment, and that is just another slippery slope that she should avoid.

Still, there are too many things that she should avoid, and one of those things is sitting right in front of her, staring at her as if he would prefer to eat her instead of the delicious food in front of him. Okay, so the language she uses at this point is more than a bit graphic, but she cannot seem to think about anything other than the food and the man who made it – and for some reason that makes her so fucking horny.

"You mean the lasagna?" she is trying to stop staring at it. "It is lasagna, right?"

"It is," he confirms with an evil grin on his face. "I have a secret recipe."

In order to get to that perfect lasagna sooner, she basically gulps down her entrée so that she can get started. The first bite is basically a revelation, because this lasagna is the perfect mix of all of the flavors that are supposed to blend together in this recipe. There are the two different kinds of sauce mixing perfectly with the dough and the few vegetables and the meat. Oh, it is the most amazing thing that she has ever tasted.

"Where can I get the recipe?" she pleads with him, inhaling another bite.

There are still these looks from his side, and the way he is studying her should not be making her as hot as they are currently making her.

"It is an old family secret," he is just now finishing his soup, smiling proudly at her.

And he should have every damn right to be proud of this food, because holy crap she does not even have any words for how fucking amazing this stuff is! She wants to eat this and only this for the rest of her goddamn life! She would die happy!

She would also be about five hundred pounds, but somehow she cannot see that much of a problem with that if she gets to eat the perfect lasagna every day of her life. If Enjolras still wants her like that, things would be even more perfect – only he does not want her like that, or at least he will not acting on wanting her like that. There will only be looks and dark lusty gazes from his side – there will be no more making out and sweet kisses and hot touches from him. Is it hot in here or is that just in her head?

"This is fucking perfect!" she has the mouth of a sailor when she is particularly happy about something. "I'm dumping your couch and I'm marrying this lasagna."

After shooting a quick mental apology to that perfect couch, she takes another bite of the lasagna and confirms that she has definitely made the right choice. There might still be an affair with that couch at some point, but she is definitely keeping the lasagna around for as long as she can – which basically means Enjolras needs to cook for her forever.

If there is any kind of problem with that, she cannot see it. He has not yet decided to forego celibacy – even though she really wishes that he would – so they can probably stay mostly platonic friends for the rest of their lives. Even though she is going to have trouble getting over her stupid feelings for him, she can definitely live with having him near for the rest of their lives. She will take what she can get from him.

Whatever he wants to give her, she will gladly accept.

"I guess I'm flattered," he does not seem to understand her deeper meaning.

"You should be," she is trying to convey said meaning without actually having to say it.

There is no lasagna without the sexy cook responsible for creating said lasagna, so he has to understand that loving his lasagna is just another of her emotionally stunted jokes to hide how much she is starting to love him. There, she said the l-word and it did not get any less terrifying to think about it. She is still so scared of ruining this weeks-old friendship over her stupid feelings – will she ever really learn?

It is just another version of her previous love for Marius, and she feels so stupid because she has once again fallen for a man who is just not going to love her back.

"You love my lasagna more than me," he is actually trying to copy her pout

Still, his comment definitely makes things more awkward between the two of them, so she tries to keep herself busy by stuffing her face with lasagna. While the pout was totally adorable, it also made her want to pull his face to hers and show him something else that he could do with that mouth. Oh, her mind is long gone and there are only dirty things left in it, so she is just going to stop talking until she gets herself under control again. Another bite of lasagna goes into her mouth under his watchful gaze.

"What's for dessert?" she attempts to distract him from his close study of her.

There is no way that her attempt is actually working, because he is still staring at her and he does not show any signs of letting up. The heated look did change to something a lot more puzzled – but she has seen that look on his face directed at her many times before, because he still does not seem to know what he should think about her.

"You haven't even finished your lasagna yet," he does not understand this at all.

Not being done with her main course does not mean that she is any less excited about finding out what he has planned for them after the lasagna of her dreams. She wants this evening to never end – no matter how ridiculous that might sound.

"I really wanna know," she tries a revenge of the pout.

His eyes now focus on her lips, and while that really was not her intent – she can still consider it a very nice bonus. She would happily trade in all the food in the world if he would only kiss her and return her stupid feelings, but she also knows that the mere idea of that is silly and all her wishful thinking is not going to change that. There is nothing that she can say to make him change his mind, and she has to remember that.

"Tiramisu," he caves in immediately after she gives him that look.

Hot damn, she might have to change her food husband from the lasagna to the dessert if it is as good as she is hoping it will be. Is it even possible for the tiramisu to be better than the lasagna? She does not know, but she is almost dying to find out.

But what can she even say to him now? She has to get the feelings out at some point, preferably before she starts to resent him as much as she did Marius. It is ridiculous of her to blame him even the slightest bit, but she has no idea how to deal with this in any other way. She is so tired of having to move on because she keeps falling for all the wrong guys. Her track record: her best friend who only saw her as a sister, the neighborhood criminal, and now her celibate fake boyfriend. She is doing so well that she does not even want to know how she will top this in the future.

Honestly, if this is all there is to it, she is never going to fall in love again.

"Where did you get my wish list of perfect Italian food?" she has her suspicions.

"Marius told me that you like Italian food," he confirms these suspicions right away.

It is nice of Marius to want to help Enjolras improve their relationship – because neither of them has told Marius that they were in fact lying to him about their love affair. He will probably go on believing in this relationship long after they do, but she just cannot reveal this lie to her former best friend. Eventually she will have to stage a break-up talk, but she is going to attempt to actually get over her stupid feelings first.

She stares at her almost empty plate, regretting that the lasagna is almost gone, and hoping that the tiramisu will be equally amazing. There are still a few bites left to enjoy, so she takes her time with them to savor the experience as much as she can, because she really does not want the night to ever end. It is the best birthday that she has had in years, maybe the best birthday that she has ever had, and she is already dreading the moment in which the bubble bursts and real life takes over again. She is never allowed to be happy for very long, and while the nagging of her unreturned feelings is painful, he still makes her pretty happy just by being her friend. That should be enough.

All that she needs to remember is how much friendship can mean.

"Yes, of course he would tell you," she had already figured that out.

Her jacket is shrugged off and hanging over the back of her chair, and yet she does not feel chilly in her summer dress. His gaze warms her, and it almost makes her more than a bit uncomfortable at this point – she cannot find a proper position to sit in, and her body is itching with the urge to just make a move on him. It gets worse and worse and the food is gone, and with it her last excuse to keep looking away.

"I chose the dishes on my own," he vows. "And I think I made the right choices."

She is having serious problems now that she has finished the lasagna and she has no other excuse to keep herself from jumping him and thanking him for the food in a very creative manner – even though he is walking back to the kitchen to get the dessert that she has not even tried yet. She would have no problem with waiting for dessert.

"You will now be forced to keep me in lasagna and yummy Italian desserts for the rest of my life," she smiles at him. "There is no other choice left for you."

It is never going to happen, and she knows that much, but she is going to let herself dream a bit longer – as a birthday present to herself. It is the best present that she can give herself after the year she has had, and she is going to keep believing until the day ends and she wakes up alone and with no reason left to keep thinking that it will one day happen for her. Because while there are still happy endings in this world, she has yet to find a reason for her to deserve something like that. It will not happen.

"Try the tiramisu," he orders gently.

He is back from his quick trip to the kitchen, and there is tiramisu in front of her that looks better than any food she has ever seen before. He even has a little candle placed on top of it, and he has lit it. She assumes that he wants her to blow out the candle.

"Make a wish," he tells her, noticing her staring at the candle.

"Are you serious?" she asks him, because she finds the tradition ridiculous.

Even if she makes a wish on this stupid candle that he got from some random store – it has no magical powers whatsoever – that wish is just never going to come true. Sadly enough, she already knows what she would wish, and she knows that cannot happen.

"Humor me, please," he is smiling at her, his eyes shining.

She lowers herself a bit to get closer to that one shining candle, and she thinks of her wish in her head. If wishes were even remotely likely to come true, she would wish for the two of them together forever – she would wish for her happily ever after to be with him. She really does think that they could make this work, at least, if he really did want her that way. So she closes her eyes, she holds her wish close to her heart, and she gently blows, hoping that this will extinguish the candle and make her wish come true.

Her eyes open at the soft chuckles coming from Enjolras' direction, and when she sees the extinguished candle, there is a smile on her face as well.

"What did you wish for?" he asks, and she immediately looks him in the eye.

Right at that moment, when he is looking at her with that smile of his, he is her every wish come true. His curls are dancing with his laughter, and his blue eyes shine so brightly that she is drawn in without even thinking about it too much.

"I can't tell you what I wished for," she exaggerates her frustration.

Telling him about her stupid wish would not only embarrass her, it would also mean that the wish would never happen. And while she knows that it would never happen in the real world, she is definitely still holding out hope for him. When he looks at her that way, all she wants to do is hold him and kiss him and love him.

"Can I convince you in any way?" he is now openly flirting with her.

"I will let you know," she plays hard to get just a little, because the flirting is nice.

There is a long and extensive list of things that he could do to convince her to tell him everything that he wants to know. A lot of these things are sexual in nature – because her sexual frustration still has not been dealt with – but the number one on the list has little to do with sex. If he tells her he feels the same and he wants to be with her, she will tell him everything that he has ever wanted to know about her.

"Maybe the dessert will help?" he asks, still a playful tone to his voice.

She is almost hesitating at ruining the perfection that is currently in front of her by taking a bite out of it, only wasting this beautiful and undoubtedly delicious food would be the biggest waste ever in her life, so she is not going to deny herself this amazing food any longer. She picks up her spoon, takes a bite and –

"Oh my fucking god," she lets out a pretty indecent moan. "This is amazing!"

She is almost too caught up in her food to notice that Enjolras is uncomfortably shifting in his chair after her obvious sound of enjoyment. She is not faking any more sounds for his enjoyment, but there might be more audible evidence of her enjoyment anyway, because the food is just that good and she cannot contain herself.

"Can you not?" he has to interrupt her private time with her dessert.

"Sorry," she is not particularly sorry about this, actually. "I will try to tone down my Meg Ryan impression. The food is just so good. Honestly. I'm never getting rid of you."

That last bit slipped out before she had the chance to censor her speech, and she is left trying really hard to hide the blush that wants to come out. She cannot keep telling him stupid things like that if she wants to respect his celibacy.

Which is what she must do, because true friends respect each other's choices, and no matter how much she wants to rip his clothes off and take him on his beautiful couch, she knows that he would not want her to do that. He made the choice to stay away from these distractions, and she must try not to distract him so purposefully. She has already made him do things that he did not originally want to – she does not believe that he faked their make out scenes for his own reasons. He did that for her, right?

"You are only keeping me around for the food?" he makes a joke of it.

"And for the post-eating cuddle," she is asking for trouble and she knows it.

Even though he should probably reject her outright at this point, he stands up and holds out a hand for her to take. She takes it without hesitation, because the tiramisu is gone anyway and she just wants him to hold her so she can pretend for a bit longer that he feels the same way about her that she feels about him.

"Movie?" he asks, and she nods, because he is just being so perfect.

She crawls onto the best couch in the world as he puts in a random DVD – she trusts him to pick something good. The couch is still her favorite thing to lie down on, so she has high expectations of cuddling taking place on this piece of furniture.

The DVD starts playing, the music swells and she immediately knows that he has gone for a classic. The intro music of Casablanca is playing – she knows her soundtracks quite well, and the drama club at her school put it on a few years ago. She supported that decision wholeheartedly, because it is and always will be one of her favorites.

"You chose well," she compliments as he comes back to the couch.

It is a pretty big couch, so there should be more than enough room for the two of them to sit comfortably, but she is not intending to just sit next to him when she could actually be in his arms for a little while. There has to be a lot of physical contact – there is no post-dinner cuddle party without actual contact. She remembers being in bed together in his arms, and she just wants to feel like that again.

That time was one of the few times in her life that she felt safe, and not even the discovery that Enjolras was the one who scared off Montparnasse – meaning that he had a hidden dark and/or violent side – could make that any less awesome. He made her feel safe and warm and protected, and she does not get to feel like that often, so when it comes to the cuddling, the chemistry is just a nice bonus for her. The warmth and the feeling of safety will always have the highest priority.

He situates himself on the opposite side of the couch, and she is not going to allow that for any amount of time, so she climbs over him, trying her best imitation of a panther that ends with her on top of him and the two of them touching in every possible way.

"What are you doing?" he does not seem to get the hint.

"Cuddling," is her one word explanation, which is all that he is going to get.

It is then that he finally seems to understand that she was serious about doing this when she mentioned it earlier, because he shifts to accommodate her, laying down on his back and letting her lay down between his legs, happily shifting to her side so that she can cuddle up to his solid chest. She hopes that it is as comfortable for him as it is for her, because she feels safe and warm the very second his arms wrap around her.

"Can I pay attention to the movie?" he teases, his fingers staying still on her waist.

She wishes he would gently rub her skin again, but that is probably one of those things that they can only do when they are pretending to be a couple – even though they were not really pretending at all of those particular times. Still, she knows that she cannot ask those things of him now, so she is just going to be content with what she can get from him now that they are just mostly platonic friends.

"Movie?" she asks as if she does not even know what is going on. "What movie?"

He grins and the reverberations run through his chest and make her pillow vibrate the slightest bit. It is odd, but not unpleasant, so she runs her hand down his side to make him move again – it only serves to almost make him jump.

"Éponine," he chides her gently, so she has to try it again.

This time his body actually bucks up into hers – so he is a bit ticklish after all – and the sensation makes her shiver, and she is sure that he notices that there are goose bumps appearing on her skin in response as the shiver fades away again. Her skin feels extra sensitive, and even the slightest move of his fingers against her skin makes it worse.

"Let's just watch the movie," she turns her face to the screen.

There is a soft chuckle coming from him, because she is doing the complete opposite of what she just said would be happening. Before, she was the one who was making jokes about being distracted from the happenings around them, and now she is the one who wants to watch the movie without too many distractions from the chemistry running through their bodies. Her nerve endings are reacting so strongly that every move sends a wave of excitement through her entire body and she cannot deal with that.

The chemistry is just too strong, so she stays silent and still and lets the movie play on and on, until Rick first sees the letters, and she actually gets more invested in the story as Sam the pianist begins playing. She is waiting for that special song, and her heart starts to race as she feels Ilsa's introduction getting closer and closer. Still, the conversations with Rick's other patrons and friends lull her back into that false sense of security that the movie always manages. She is lured in by talk of the city and mysterious letters that save people – and then the first shots are fired.

"Oh," she gasps in a soft whisper.

Right then, she feels a gentle touch on her hair, and she has to force herself to keep breathing steadily and regularly. Her hair is naturally only a bit wavy, and he appears to be trying to create curls out of these waves by winding a lock of hair around his finger in a rather absentminded fashion. It just feels so domestic that she wants to scream from the rooftops that he might actually feel something for her.

On the screen, Elsa and her husband are actually at Rick's, but she is having trouble focusing on that because he is still touching her so gently. His hands are not even on her skin, and yet she feels like she is igniting from the inside out.

Ilsa is talking to dear Sam, and she is just waiting for the famous lines

"Play it once, Sam," Ingrid Bergman speaks. "For old time's sake."

She mouths the line right along with her and waits to hear "As Time Goes By", that iconic song that tells so much of this relationship between Rick and Ilsa. The chemistry that she now knows so well is there between the fictional lovers as well; only there is too much pain, regret, and betrayal between those two for things to be okay between them.

He is humming the song along with her, seemingly sad when it ends and things turn sour again – just waiting until Sam performs a reprise for Rick alone, because the man is stubborn and he needs to torture himself with those old memories.

"We are not going to dance," her 'Jolras tells her as they view these memories.

"Just be quiet," she tells him, letting herself get captivated by the movie.

Because Ilsa is gone within minutes, and she feels herself getting sadder as she sees Rick dealing with the pain of being left behind – something that she knows all too well.

The deep breath she takes to avoid wanting to cry with remembering the stupid things in her past, that breath turns into something unrecognizable as he starts to run his hands up and down her back. Apparently her hair is now sufficiently curly, because he has moved on to a different pastime as they continue to at least attempt to focus on the classic that is still playing. But she has no idea what is going on in the movie.

He is too much of a distraction, and Humphrey Bogart could be doing a naked cancan for all she knows, because his hands are on her body and she is just so hot. She just wants to take off her silly summer dress and let his hands roam over her bare skin – this is not even a particular sexual gesture, but he still manages to turn her on.

One sweep down to her lower back suddenly changes direction and all of a sudden, his fingers are running up and down her arm, soft as angel wings. She can hear the Marseillaise playing in the background as the movie goes on and on, but her focus has narrowed to those fingers tingling on her skin as they move up and down her arm – and he has shown no sign that he even knows what he is doing to her.

The feelings are not letting up and she does not know if she wants him to stop doing it to her or if she wants him to continue until she is either asleep or too strung out to consider the consequences of asking him for his magic fingers in other places.

She finds a happy middle in this situation by reaching for his hand to lace her fingers with his, and she holds her breath hoping that he will accept this gesture.

"Just keep breathing," he gently teases, and she takes another deep breath.

They both start moving at the same time, trying to make each other as comfortable as they possibly can. The end result of their movements is that her head is comfortably resting on his chest, while his chin is on top of her head. He has one of his arms in her hair and she has never felt this way before in her entire life.

"We're missing the movie," she giggles, not even caring anymore.

"What movie?" he teases in return as he plants a soft kiss in her hair.

She looks up at him then, so surprised that he would dare to kiss her, and even more surprised that he would want to do it. He has never really taken the initiative in their fake romantic interactions, and for him to kiss her – even if it is just on her hair – is a huge deal for the two of them. As she sees his blue, blue eyes slowly darkening, with the occasional reflection of the black and white of the movie, she is imagining how this moment between the two of them would continue if he felt that way about her.

"Movie?" she is legitimately confused about her own name at this point.

Apparently her life has turned into a movie, because she is now looking into his eyes and he appears to be bridging the gap between the two of them.

His lips touch hers and the world is different because his lips are soft and they are touching hers, albeit tentatively. Their mouths move slowly and gently, and it just might be the most perfect kiss that she has ever been a part of – because he made the first move, and he actually wanted to kiss her. He wanted her that way, and that is one of the biggest revelations she has ever had to deal with.

"Hey," she smiles at him as he ends the kiss so they can breath.

"Hey," he returns, leaning in for another kiss.

His phone suddenly rings, and the moment shatters – possibly never to return again.

AN: Yes, we have a cliff-hanger. Blame Mary for that one! Or just wait 2 or 3 days for the next chapter. It's not the end of the world, I promise.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: Don't ask me! :cries:

AN: I almost wanted to wait with this chapter a bit longer – and it might be a bit longer until I update the next chapter. Just as a warning, because I do have a thesis to write and I am not done with enough chapters to feel confident posting too many chapters. I'm only working on eighteen, and that might take a while to be finished. It is a bit difficult to write.

**Chapter fourteen: Twists, Turns, and Ticking Clocks**

"It's my sister," his face tells of shock and pain and dread.

"Just take it," she tells him, wrapping herself around him in a comforting embrace.

Nothing else has been said about the practically perfect Natalie, but the look on his face says more than enough to her. He has not talked to her in ages, and for her to call him on a random night means that something has to be utterly and completely wrong.

"Natalie?" his voice is soft and broken right from the start.

She can only hear Enjolras' side of the conversation, and it feels odd to refer to him by his last name when he is talking to someone with that same last name. Still, she is having troubles with trying to call him Gabriel, because somehow he is her 'Jolras and there is nothing else that she can possibly call him that will suit him that well. That name is just theirs to use, and it is the only nickname that he knows he even approves of. He has never told her to stop calling him that, and she will call him that whenever she can. His full last name is a bit of a mouthful, and his first name is just not done.

Still, she kind of wants to see what will happen when she calls him Gabe – just Gabe.

"What?" his face goes completely white, and she knows it is bad. "Dad? How bad is it?"

Shit! That means that there has been an accident or a medical emergency and that was just about the worst thing that she could possibly think of with a normal family like his – if it had been her family on the phone, she just would have wondered what her parents had gotten arrested for that particular time – and she would not have cared about the answer all that much. This is different, and this is just so much worse.

"I am coming right now," he manages to promise before completely shutting down.

There is no response from him to her touch, and that is when she knows that something is really wrong – he has never been immune to her touch. Whether he flinched away or turned closer, he has always responded to her – his stillness is more terrifying than any other response could ever be, and the distance feels too great.

"'Jolras?" she is trying to get through to him. "Tell me what's wrong!"

"My dad had a heart attack," he breathes out. "I have to go."

With those words he shuts down again, staring at the wall yet seeing nothing. She has to take over the phone, because he does not seem to be fit for conversation with anyone at this point, let alone his sister he hardly ever talks to.

"Natalie?" she speaks into the phone, hoping that the other woman is still there.

"Who is this?" is the sharp response from a very clear and bell-like voice.

Knowing her 'Jolras pretty well, she is sure that he has never mentioned her to anyone who did not already know her – he is an intensely private creature, and he is rarely in touch with his family anyway. So this is pretty much the weirdest and most awkward meet the family she has ever heard of, but she is still sticking with him.

"My name is Éponine," she awkwardly introduces herself. "I'm a friend of your brother's. He is just staring into nothing, so I am not going to let him drive when he is like this."

It is weird how he just completely shut down when the news came, because she always expected that he would deal with things in a much more obvious way that showed on the outside as well. She figured that he would scream and shout, and maybe even punch the wall in frustration, but she never even imagined that he would completely shut down like this, leaving her desperate and trying to bring the man from before back. Was it really only minutes ago that they were actually kissing?

"Of course," her 'Jolras' sister immediately agrees with her diagnosis.

"Which hospital do I need to drive him to?" she makes her decision quickly.

There is no way that she is going to leave him to drive there on his own, even if he had been less distant than he is currently. Situations such as this one are better handled with a friend by one's side – and she is the best thing that he has got at this point.

"It is a pretty long drive," Natalie gives her a warning instead of an answer.

"That doesn't matter right now," she shrugs it off. "Just tell me where to take him."

She can arrange everything with work later, but this is a valid family emergency and she is not leaving him alone to deal with that, especially when he is in such a state. This time she is going to be the one protecting him, and she is going to do a great job at that – she is going to be the great friend that he deserves to have around him right now.

"Hope Mercy hospital," Natalie finally tells her. "Do you know it?"

"I can Google with the best of them," she returns with her usual quick wit.

Maybe if 'Jolras ever finds his senses again, he will be able to tell her just where she needs to go. She is going to assume that he will eventually start talking again, because otherwise their car trip is going to get really awkward really fast.

"Where are you now?" Natalie is just about as businesslike as her older brother.

"We are at 'Jolras' apartment," she tells the other woman like it does not mean anything.

Even though it does mean just about everything, and they were just about to maybe make some real progress in their relationship – she can tell the other woman absolutely nothing about that, because it is not as if she would understand. Natalie probably still thinks of Enjolras as the Marble Man who was so focused on celibacy that he looked at the ground instead of looking at a woman. Well, she managed to knock that bullshit out of him within the first day she met him, about ten years ago, and the celibate thing seems less than accurate at this point. He actually kissed her!

"It will be about a three or four hour drive," that gives her something to look forward to.

"I can handle it," she tells Natalie. "We will pack our stuff and we will be on the road within thirty minutes. 'Cause I am assuming that we are staying the night somewhere."

There is a short moment when she catalogues what clean laundry she has left and where she can find it, so that she can map out the most efficient packing time. She does not want him to lose time with his father because she is being stupid about what kind of clothes she wants to pack for the trip. She has a list inside her head, and she will stick with that and make things easier for the both of them. Because she is coming with him!

"I'll make up the guest room," Natalie understands what she means.

"I will just get in bed with your brother," she has to tell his younger sister something about their complicated relationship, "if you do not mind. I have done it before."

Also, she is not going to leave him alone in a confusing situation like this one. He has enough issues with his family that he needs someone who is completely on his side in everything, and she is going to be that person. The only bonus that she can give what his other friends cannot is that she can sleep in his bed and hold him through the night when the world sounds too scary to contemplate. She can kiss him better if only he would let her – she would do just about everything if only he would let her.

"This is something I am not sure I want to know, but okay," Natalie is surprised.

"See you in several hours," she ends the conversation and disconnects the call.

She is left with an almost despondent Enjolras still sitting next to her on the couch, and while the literal distance between the two of them is small, there is a large gap that is miles wide metaphorically. There is a difference like night and day between how they were before the call and how they are now. She understands, but that does not mean that she likes it. She wishes that they could turn back the clock for a little while.

"Can you pack your stuff?" she asks him, hoping for any kind of response.

"Don't treat me like a child," he bites at her, and she breathes a sigh of relief.

Seeing him angry is not very high on her list, but it is still several places higher than seeing him unresponsive and almost traumatized. She is happy that he finally reacts to something, so she is ready to be stupidly impulsive about that.

"You're back," she throws her arms around him without thinking.

"And I am going to pack," he makes her let go so quickly.

There is nothing left to say to him as he rushes to get away from her, and she has to pretend that this does not sting. He was kissing her before, even though it was hesitant and tentative, and now it seems as if he cannot stand to be in the same room with her for longer than a few seconds. She is not just going to let that go, not even right now.

"Are you going to be a dick for the whole trip," she walks towards his bedroom.

"You are not coming with me," he snipes, and she is almost ready to yell until –

She finds him sitting on the floor of his bedroom with red-rimmed eyes and trying to choke back the tears that keep threatening to escape. She has never seen him in such a state, and that is exactly why she is definitely coming with him on this journey.

"I am not letting you do this alone," she sets herself down right next to him and laces his hand with hers. "I'm driving, but we do need to go to my place first so that I can grab some clothes. I already talked to your sister, and I already told her that we are definitely sleeping in the same bed, so that should not be a problem either."

That brings out his first laugh since he heard the terrible news.

"That might get interesting," he laughs, obviously imagining the inevitable clash.

She stares at him rather than giving him a verbal response, because she still has not solved the delightful mystery that is Gabriel Enjolras.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

They are less than five minutes away from the hospital when she starts to consider just what kind of impression she needs to make on these people, seeing as they are related to the guy she is in love with. It feels so shallow to think about the future of their stupid relationship when his father's life might be in danger, but she has never been too smart of a person Also, she is still an immature idiot at heart, and her mind is just going haywire trying to deal with everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours.

"Almost there," she reminds him as the hospital gets ever closer.

"Thanks for coming with me," he tells her softly, still sounding so stressed.

She can see the hospital now, and she slows down to pull into the parking lot, knowing that he will probably want to get inside and see his family as soon as possible. Still, he is not moving a single muscle, not even after she has haphazardly parked his car in the first available parking spot. He is back in his mind palace again, and for some reason he looks as if he is incredibly terrified of leaving the safety of his own car.

"Eventually you will have to move," she tells him gently, knowing that there are more issues in play than she knows of herself. "And I will be right there with you when you are ready to go in. I'll even hold your hand if you want me to do that."

This is her trying to be generous and trying to be a good friend, even though the part about the handholding would probably be a bit more self-serving than the rest of it. She just wants to feel close to him again, and holding his hand would help with that, and she also thinks that he will definitely be able to get some support out of it.

"I have not seen them in years," Enjolras sounds so young when he says that.

"But you want to see them now," she tells him in return.

No matter how hesitant he may seem now, he surely wants to see his parents and his sister again – and he can finally meet Natalie's newborn baby girl. The girl is only a few weeks old, but he has not visited his family members in order to meet her. It is terrible that he will first see his niece under such terrible circumstances, but she knows that he will be a wonderful uncle to the little girl. She will be spoiled in no time.

"I am worried about my father," he switches from childlike to extremely formal.

"I understand," and she does understand. "But for you to find out any more news about his current state, you are going to have to get inside, at least eventually."

At this point, she is worried that she is never going to be able to get through to him, and while she does not want to leave him in the car, she is eventually going to go inside with or without him there. If he is too scared to get answers, she will get them for him.

"Okay," he finally opens the passenger side door so that he can get out. "We're going."

They both step out of the car, both on their respective sides. She locks the car quickly and checks if it actually worked. She has to make sure that their belongings, the ones that are kept in the trunk of his car are safe as they head towards the entrance, ready to face whatever is coming for the two of them – but mostly for him. Just before they enter the hospital, Enjolras slips his hand into hers. She squeezes once. She understands.

"I'm right here," she tells him just as they enter the hospital.

He heads straight for the desk as soon as he sees it. It is being manned by several nurses who are looking more than a bit stressed – which she totally understands because life in a hospital is terrible and stressful and occasionally terrifying. She does not want to think any more on her own experiences with hospitals, but there are so many reminders surrounding her that she cannot help but think about Annabelle Pontmercy, and about the many broken bones and scars that she herself suffered over the years.

"I am looking for Gabriel Enjolras senior," 'Jolras gets straight to business. "I'm his son."

Okay, that might be at least some part of the explanation for his frustration about his first name – he is named after his father, and she already knows that there are definitely some issues between the two men. She will probably get into these issues a bit more later, but for now she is happy with finding out a bit more about her 'Jolras.

"He is still in surgery," the nurse tells the two of them after looking into the database on her computer. "You can join the rest of your family in the waiting room on your left."

With the lack of news, Enjolras just stands there for a bit, looking defeated and oh so very scared. He does not appear to be all that ready to face his mother, his sister, and the rest of his little family. She knows that it cannot be as bad as he is making it out to be, so she is going to drag him in there whether he wants to or not.

"Come on, 'Jolras," she tells him. "The waiting room is that way."

She just starts walking, and he follows her rather easily, maybe because their hands are still clasped together and he does not appear to want to let her go. She does not have any problems with that, so she will just let it happen, and let him introduce her to his family while they are holding hands. That is definitely going to make an impression on her, but she is mostly concerned with his comfort at this point. He wants her there with him.

"You must be 'Jolras' family," she speaks as they enter the room.

"Gabriel!" the woman who is probably his mother immediately pounces on him and smothers him in a hug. "Thank you so much for being here. I'm so glad you've come."

The woman is crying loudly, all the while mumbling about just how happy she is that her dear son is here. He has been forced to let go of Eponine because of the hugging, and now he has to bear the tears. He seems awkward and out of place the whole time.

"Mom, let him go!" Natalie orders her mother. "He needs to breathe."

There is some hesitation on their mother's side, but she releases him eventually, and he is finally free when Natalie takes her turn for a much quicker hug.

"Hey big brother," she tells him, a soft smile on her face.

"Hey little sister," her 'Jolras acts as if this is part of some protocol.

Still, she is kind of touched at how much they obviously love each other underneath all of the stupid drama. It shows in all of the little things, like how her 'Jolras flicks one of his sister's messy curls away from his face with a groan that is supposed to tell of exasperation, but instead tells of brotherly love. It shows in the way Natalie drags her brother along to her husband and child with the excitement of a young girl.

"You remember Henry," Natalie says this rather teasingly.

The aforementioned Henry is trying to look after their baby girl, so he only looks up at Enjolras for a quick second – but that is more than enough for her to tell that the big bad brother and the so-called perfect husband are not necessarily fond of each other.

"I do remember him," Enjolras' tone of voice confirms her suspicions.

"Come meet our little miracle," Natalie's voice is all happiness, for a little while.

After mentioning her little girl, Natalie practically drags Enjolras to meet her child, and because he has just reached for her hand again, she is dragged along as well. The warmth of his hand is just a little clammy with his worries, so she lets herself get dragged around if that will make him feel better. He is nervous about being around his family again, and she is going to be the support system that she needs at this point.

"Marie, meet your uncle Gabriel," Natalie lifts her little girl into her arms.

"She is so precious," she blurts out in response. "'Jolras, she even looks a bit like you."

The little baby girl is absolutely adorable, with a few tufts of hair that will eventually turn into something quite similar to her mother and uncle's crazy curls. When Marie's eyes open and she sees just how beautifully blue they are, she is struck by the desire to one day have a similar little girl of her own, with his blonde curls and his blue eyes, and her mischievous smirk and her dimples. The sheer want both surprises and completely terrifies her – because feelings are enough, but now she is actually picturing a happily ever after with him that includes children that she will undoubtedly screw up.

"Do you want to hold her?" Natalie asks her terrified big brother.

"What if I drop her?" he is stammering and almost shaking.

Marie looks so similar to what their child would look like that for a moment she can actually imagine that this little girl is theirs. She is trying not to blush at the implications for their relationship – it would mean his celibacy was completely gone – but she also cannot stop thinking about how amazing it would be to have a child with him.

"You are not going to drop her," she says all the typical things that a mother would say.

"Hold your arms like this," Natalie shows him, "and support her head."

Natalie gently places the tiny baby in his strong arms, and he looks positively terrified that something will go wrong. It is so easy to think of him holding their little baby like this – because their baby will also have those curls and those big eyes and those rosy cheeks. She wants several of these little Enjolras girls, and some boys who are exact copies of their father. Her biological clock is screaming at her, and she cannot ignore it for much longer, not after seeing the man she loves holding a baby that looks like him.

"You're doing well," she helps him adjust his arms a little. "Mind the head."

The little head is cradled in one of his large hands, and once again the clock starts ticking and screaming for attention, even though she thought that she was done raising kids after being a mother to Gavroche – and even to Azelma at times. She raised her siblings and after that she was done. Only now she sees him with that little girl that could be hers, and everything that she was sure about is turned on its head.

"You know a lot about this!" he is smiling at his tiny, squirming niece.

"I have two younger siblings," she tells him. "Gavroche was born when I was eight. I had to pick him up all the time so he would stop crying and annoy my parents."

That is more than everyone in his family needed to know. She let more slip than she wanted to, so she quickly stops talking and hopes that they will forget about this in all of the drama that is surrounding them. They have much more important things to consider than her stupid childhood traumas that she should have forgotten about long ago – but every time she sees Gavroche, she remembers how she used to cradle him in her arms to keep him safe, and how she always took the brunt of the damage for him.

"You are Éponine?" Natalie distracts her from her dark thoughts.

"That is me," she smiles as if there is nothing wrong – only everything is wrong.

The only thing that makes it better is looking at Enjolras holding that baby girl. She can pretend that this girl is theirs and that they are happy and in love instead of hoping to hear news that tells them his father is not going to die this very day.

"Thank you for getting my brother here safely," Natalie puts a hand on her arm.

"It was no problem," she smiles at her in return, almost unable to look away from 'Jolras.

If she has anything to say about the future, he would be the father of her children, and they would actually raise some well-adjusted kids – they would have serious problems with authority and showing their feelings, but they would always feel safe and they would always feel loved, no matter what. No child of hers is ever going to be scared of her, and no child of hers is going to have her scars. She will make sure of that – and she will protect that little girl with everything she is. Even though Marie is not hers.

"Do you want to hold Marie for a while?" Natalie has seen her longing looks.

"If that is okay with you," she would like to pretend for a little while longer.

She helps to move Marie from Enjolras' arms into her own. The tiny little girl takes one short look at her and starts smiling widely, her toothless mouth showing with her adorable grin. She has managed to make this little girl happy just by being near her and holding her, and that proud feeling is so incredibly powerful.

"Hey baby girl," she whispers, letting Marie take a hold of one of her fingers.

Her finger does not even fit in Marie's tiny little hand, and she chuckles softly at the adorable sight. She wants this moment for herself at some point, with her own son or daughter clutching her finger and not wanting to let go.

"Is she your girlfriend?" she hears Enjolras' mother asking the awkward question.

"They are sleeping in the same bed," Natalie adds her two cents. "She told me that."

It is easy enough to turn around a bit to see Enjolras blushing like mad as the other women in his life demand an explanation for her presence at the hospital. She is not here to bail him out on this particular subject, since she would really like to hear his honest answer to this question. There will be no help from her; no matter how many pleading looks he is currently sending him. She pretends to be too busy with little Marie.

"This is not the time, mom," he sounds like an adorable little boy.

That makes her want to giggle so badly, but she can see the doctor coming closer, obviously looking for them because he has some news to tell all of them. So she slowly makes her way in Henry's direction, letting him take his daughter back because she is going to be needed to support 'Jolras when the damage hits. Judging by the carefully blank look on the male doctor's face, the news might not be all that good.

"Are you the next of kin for Gabriel Enjolras?" the doctor addresses the group.

The relatively happy atmosphere that they achieved before is immediately gone and they are back to worrying and freaking out about the possibilities.

"Is my husband okay?" the mother is softly crying again, barely holding herself together.

When the doctor takes a deep breath before moving to reply, she fears the worst.

AN: Okay, so minor cliffhanger. Don't hurt me! As always, leave your favorite parts/lines/etcetera in the comments/reviews!


	16. Chapter Fifteen

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: Reminding me that I don't own it only hurts my feelings.

AN: Before you start reading this chapter, MAKE SURE that you have read the previous one, or else this one will not make that much sense to you. Make sure that you know who was on the phone and for what reason before you start reading this chapter. I hope the alerts work again now!

As always, much thanks to my main bitch Mary, because this chapter would not have been this good or this long without her. Also, much love to my friend Sophie-Louise – her ideas are invaluable to me!

**Chapter fifteen: Feel all the things**

"Just tell us already," Natalie is not very happy with the dramatic pause.

"Mister Enjolras has just gotten out of surgery," the doctor appears to be looking for the right words to use around the family. "He is stable right now, but the surgery was extensive and his recovery time will be lengthy. He will have to make some permanent changes in his life and in his eating patterns, but we are cautiously optimistic."

This is good news! They have actually gotten good news! This is as good as it can get!

Sure, there will have to be extensive changes in his day to day life, but Gabriel Enjolras senior is most likely going to pull through – which is more positive news than she was expecting from the panicked call they got earlier. Things will be all right.

"When can I see him?" mother Enjolras speaks, weeping and talking all at once.

"He will be able to receive visitors starting tomorrow afternoon," the doctor continues his solemn speech. "He is currently under the influence of anesthetics and will be awake again tomorrow for close relatives only. Visiting hours are currently over."

Mrs. Enjolras is basically falling apart because the last memory that she had of her husband was either of him collapsing, or of him being in an ambulance. That is not a memory that the poor woman needs right before she goes to sleep, and she really wants to call the doctor out on the visitor bad. She just needs a nice way to do it.

"Can I just look at him?" Mrs. Enjolras is still so very distraught.

"Please let Mrs. Enjolras just look at her husband," she puts on her nicest voice. "This experience has been traumatizing for her, and I believe she needs to see that her husband is just sleeping calmly, and that he will be okay."

This is where her degree comes in handy; because it makes sure that she is taken seriously by these kinds of people. Her words sound more valid when they are backed up by her Master's degree. Doctors are snobs, but she can work around that.

"Five minutes," the doctor agrees. "Only one visitor."

Huh, she did not even have to mention her fancy degree this time.

The doctor motions for Mrs. Enjolras to follow him to her husband's room, and the other woman even remembers to shoot her a grateful smile over her shoulder.

"Henry, can you take my mom home?" Natalie goes right back to business. "I am going to get Marie to bed and make sure Gabe and Éponine are properly settled in."

They will be settled in soon once they get to the bed. She does not know about Enjolras, but she is definitely getting tired, and she just wants to sleep. It is no longer officially her birthday – because they have passed midnight a little while ago – but she still wants to end her night with a lovely cuddle from her 'Jolras. Her birthday was an awkward mess of ups and downs that she still has not dealt with properly, and she just wants to go back to the cuddle party that they had going on before the shit hit the fan.

"No problem," Henry gives his wife a gentle kiss. "Don't forget the car seat for Marie."

The married couple places their child in the adorable little seat, and with Henry's final kiss to little Marie's forehead, they are off to somewhere nearing a place to sleep. She is struggling to stay awake at this point, and it is starting to show.

"I'm driving," her 'Jolras has noticed her furtive yawning as well.

She is a little embarrassed at being caught out by him, but he opens the passenger seat for her and he is being very charming, and that makes her feel better. Natalie is still installing Marie's car seat in the back before sitting next to her daughter – she is lucky that her moon eyes at 'Jolras have not been too noticeable so far. She keeps thinking of new scenarios for them to eventually have babies, and she is trying not to blush.

"The house is not too far from here," Natalie speaks up when they are all in the car.

"I remember the address," Enjolras replies, a hint of pain in his voice.

Her hand is on his thigh before she can think about it, and she gives a comforting squeeze as he pulls out of the parking lot. She hopes that he will not get too distracted by it, and she is rewarded by seeing him easily maneuvering through traffic. They are only about a few minutes away from the house that they are sleeping at, and she is sure that she will not be able to keep her eyes open for that long a time.

"Just a few more minutes, 'Ponine," her 'Jolras catches her in another yawn.

She sticks her tongue out at him and pretends not to notice his eyes darkening.

"So, how did the two of you meet?" Natalie decides to start asking awkward questions.

"We have known each other for years," she manages to string a sentence together. "We met in college, when he was in all the same as my childhood best friend. So we met through Marius, actually. He introduced us about ten years ago. We haven't stayed in touch though. We reconnected somewhat recently, before Marius got married."

It is not even a lie, and she is glad – because she is tired of lies and faking things that should be real between the two of them. She wants Natalie to see how much she cares about 'Jolras without any kind of lies or the two of them performing some stupid farce.

"We will have the rest of this talk some other time," Enjolras is slowing down, meaning that they are almost at their destination. "Right now, we all need to get some sleep."

Yes, a bed definitely sounds lovely – it is even better with 'Jolras in this bed. She hopes that the bed is as comfortable as the one they shared at Marius' place, because she has not had a great night's sleep since. It was odd to have to get used to sleeping alone again, since she did not think she had been with 'Jolras long enough to get used to his presence beside her every night. Still, it took her a while to be able to sleep alone again.

"Stay awake," he nudges her gently, and her eyes are slow to open.

"Natalie is probably the more tired one," she replies to him, looking at the backseat to see the woman in question stifle a loud yawn. "She has been kept up by this darling little girl for the last few weeks. Do you need us to take over for tonight?"

She directs that last question at Natalie, seeing as she sees how exhausted the new mother is with her little girl and now this business with her father. She could use a hand with this, and she is happy to offer hers. She has never really needed a full night's sleep to function, and she is used to getting up for a child – Gavroche was never a quiet sleeper, even after he learned to come to her room if he had a nightmare.

"You have dealt with babies before?" Natalie inquires after her experience.

"I have two younger siblings, and I used to do this all the time," she repeats the words that she had said at the hospital. "Gavroche called me his mom sometimes."

He still slips up from time to time, and she has often gotten the evil eye because of it, from people who thought she was a tramp who had a kid too young and could not get the father to stick around. If only they knew, they would eat their words.

"If you don't mind," Natalie is caving.

"I do not mind whatsoever," she speaks honestly. "You need the sleep."

They all exist the car and head towards the enormous house – clearly Natalie and Henry have done well for themselves since they got married. It is an old house, and she takes one look at it and falls in love with it. She sneaks a look at 'Jolras, and he seems hesitant to get inside the house, so she slips her hand in his for support, so that they can enter this house together. They can conquer it all, as long as they are together.

"You are an angel," Natalie sings her praises as they walk up the stairs.

The house is so beautiful, but her tired eyes have serious problems taking everything in, so she walks around in a daze and promises herself that she will look more closely at her surroundings the next day – when she will actually be awake enough to appreciate the beautiful details of this old house. They stop in front of an old door, and she just keeps holding on to her 'Jolras as she waits to hear from Natalie what is behind this particular door. It might be little Marie's room, or it might be the room where she will finally find a safe and warm place to sleep. She is tired, and that makes her cranky.

"That she is," Enjolras tells her softly, squeezing her hand.

"Stop it," she replies, never wanting to hear this exaggerated and insincere flattery.

Still, when she looks into his eyes, she can tell that he actually believes what he told her just now. He actually believes that she is this wonderful creature, even after she has shown him desperation, manipulation, and lies. She has shown him only some of her dark sides – she has much more tales to tell and scars to show him – and somehow he thinks that she is wonderful. She is not sure how this works, and she just cannot understand why the man who could have anyone would want her.

"So, this is your room," Natalie points out the door in front of them. "Marie's room is on the other side of the hallway. It's that door right there. Or just follow the crying."

Natalie lets out a desperate laugh, and she has never seemed so tired. Enjolras still carries their bags, so he lets go of her to enter the room and lose the bags. She herself shoots a soft smile at Natalie before she enters their room as well.

"Will you actually hear Marie crying?" Enjolras is skeptical.

"I am a pretty light sleeper," she shrugs, as if the reason for this is something normal and not something traumatizing. "I will wake up if I hear crying."

This is something that she learned the hard way. She used to be able to sleep through just about everything as a child, until she found out that Gavroche was only safe when she got to him in time – even in the middle of the night. She became a mother that night, tossing and turning until she heard his cries, only to rush off into his room and hope that he would be quiet when he saw her approach. She would cradle him and whisper to him and occasionally try a lullaby when her parents were too drunk to notice.

"Even when you are this tired?" he sounds worried about her.

She leans her head on his shoulder, because her eyes threaten to close again and her head is easier to hold up if he helps her with that. It feels as if she has not slept properly in weeks, but that feeling is familiar and she knows from experience that she will still wake up if anything happens or if she hears anything. She will always wake.

"Even with you beside me," she mutters, hoping that he did not hear that.

It is going to be harder to get out of bed when it feels safe and comfortable and he might even have an arm around her, but she is still going to manage to get away, because that is what she has always done. She will cradle that little girl, and she will keep her safe.

"Let's get some sleep," he slowly lets go of her, and she feels a loss of warmth.

That loss will only last a little while, because the bed is close.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

The cries piercing the silent night are familiar. Her baby brother needs her, and she needs to be quick to calm him down, or her parents might hurt them again. She needs to get up, she needs to get out, and she needs to do it right fucking now!

"I'm coming Gavroche," she whispers, and her eyes open quickly.

After freaking out because there is someone in the bed with her, she grabs a random shirt to throw on and practically runs out of the room in the direction of the crying – a door on the opposite side of the hallway. Halfway through the hallway she realizes that she has thrown on a man's shirt, but it does not seem important enough when she considers what her parents will do to little Gavroche if they hear him crying.

"There you are," she opens the door to a child's bedroom.

It is not Gavroche's room, and the baby in the little bed is not Gavroche either – this is a little girl who is crying her heart out. She has no idea what is going on here, but she is still not going to let that little girl get hurt because she did not help her.

"Hey little girl," she whispers to this strange girl, trying to calm her down with softly spoken words, because picking her up might make her cry more. "Ssshh. Mommy and Daddy are not here right now. Just go to sleep little girl. Your Ponine is here to help you get to sleep. Hush, little girl. Things will be fine. You can go back to sleep."

The crying is not letting up, and she wonders if the darling girl with the tiny curls might need a diaper change. So she gently lifts her, and while the cries get louder for a little while, they go back to their normal level as soon as this girl is on the changing table and she manages to locate the stupid diapers. She has not forgotten how to do this.

"Ponine is going to get you clean again," she tells the baby girl, even though she knows that she will not understand her speeches. "You will be happy after that."

She has not forgotten how to change a diaper quickly and efficiently, but she has apparently forgotten just how much a tiny baby can smell at this point. She scrunches up her face and makes even more haste with her task – and it is done, so she can take a deeper breath again. Still, the little girl has not stopped her cries, and there is nothing left to do but to cradle her and hope that might help her fall asleep again.

"Do you want to go in the rocking chair with me?" she has found the chair in her quick scan of the room. "The rocking chair is really nice, little girl."

The chair was one of the things that she noticed in her quick scan of the room. It is beautiful and it looks to be several generations old – she hopes that it will not make loud creaking noises to wake people up. She just wants this girl to be safe.

Only she is not in her parents' house, is she?

"Hush little baby, don't say a word," she starts singing as soon as she sits down, gently cradling the little girl – Mary? Maria? Marie? – to her chest.

Her mind is mush, because there has not been enough sleep and the terror of imminent discovery by her parents is still looming over her, even though it does not seem possible, because she has not seen them in years. This is not her brother, this is Natalie's little girl, and her name is Marie. Why is that so hard to remember?

"Ponine is gonna buy you a mockingbird," she continues to sing.

Still Marie will not stop crying, and she has no idea what else she can try. The note on the changing table said that the girl had been fed only forty minutes ago, so it cannot be hunger either. She does not know what to do and the panic blurs her mind again – she feels like the little mother she was when Gavroche was just a baby, and she just had to make him stay quiet. She did not always succeed.

"And if that mockingbird don't sing," her voice gets a bit more shrill with the fear and the confusion, and she can feel the tears stinging her eyes, "Ponine is gonna buy you a diamond ring. And if that diamond ring turns brass, she is gonna buy you-"

Her voice cracks because she remembers this one night when she just could not get Gavroche to be quiet – it later turned out to be because he was sick and their parents hurt him and she should have taken him to a hospital. She was ten years old, and she did not know what to do anymore, because the crying just would not stop. That was one of the few times her parents found her and punished her for her kindness.

"Stop crying, please stop crying Marie," the tears are streaming down her face.

A creak of the floor tells her that someone is coming, and she changes the way she is holding Marie to better be able to protect her if it did come to blows.

"Please don't hurt her," she pleads, so messed up and confused. "Hurt me instead."

But the man and woman stepping into the room are not her parents; they are the Enjolras siblings, who are now staring at her as if she has lost her mind. The pitying look on 'Jolras' face is what snaps her out of her memories completely.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she starts babbling, because she does not know how she can apologize for her madness. "I thought you were my parents and I couldn't let Marie get hurt like Gavroche was. I had to protect her, but she would not stop crying."

When Natalie comes to hold Marie – and the little girl immediately stops crying when she recognizes her mother's scent – she just falls apart, letting Gabriel pull her out of the rocking chair and into his arms, where she tries to stifle her sobs. She cannot stop crying though, because every bad memory that she has tried to repress just came back to the surface and they will not be forgotten. She sees the bruises on Gavroche's tiny baby legs, and she sees Azelma sneaking into her room in the middle of the night because her father had friends over and those people could not be trusted with a twelve-year-old girl – not that they could be trusted with a fourteen-year-old, but she was bigger and stronger than Azelma, and she could take it. She sees everything.

"I'm here," her 'Jolras reminds her, running his hands up and down her back so gently that it makes her want to cry even more. "Come, 'Ponine. Let's go back to bed."

At this point she is so easily led that she is glad she is around people that she can trust with these weaknesses. She has almost entrusted 'Jolras with her heart, and if this makes him turn away from her, he does not deserve her. She has to believe that.

"I'm sorry Natalie," she speaks again through her blurry eyes.

"She just wanted her mom," Natalie clasps her hand and easily forgives her for this mad outburst. "There was nothing you could have done. You will be okay, Éponine."

This makes Natalie a better person than she could ever be, because here is this stranger, holding her daughter and absolutely freaking out. Hopefully this will not make Natalie or Henry hate her – she only wants to hate her parents for leaving her this broken with no one to lean on. However, she is still that little girl who wants her parents to love her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Enjolras asks as they enter their room.

"I think I kind of have to," she takes a deep breath to stop the next wave of tears. "I cannot have a freak-out with your adorable niece and then pretend that nothing has happened. I just do not know where to start, because there is too much to say."

Her childhood and its traumas will not easily be condensed into a short little speech, and she also has no way to tell him these things in a way that he could stand to hear all of it without wanting to pity her or to rip her parents apart piece by piece. He would probably even try to find them and unleash his kind of hell on them – and while she would appreciate that he would care about her, she still would not want him to harm anyone else on her behalf. Him hurting Montparnasse was dangerous enough.

"My father and I have never gotten along," Enjolras now appears to be offering up information to even them out. "I haven't spoken to him directly since I left for college the first time around, over ten years ago. I have spoken to my mom on the phone, and I have seen Natalie a few times, but that is just about it."

They are both still in their nightwear, so it is easy to crawl back into the surprisingly comfortable bed for the rest of this discussion. She would not want to be anywhere else, and with anyone else, than she is right now. This safe room should not be tainted by her confessions, but she has this feeling that he is not going to let it happen, because he will refuse to treat her like some sort of wilting flower after all of this is over.

"Don't, 'Jolras," she ends his attempt, because he does not owe her this.

"I will tell you whatever you want to know," he vows, wrapping his arms around her.

Right now there is nothing that she wants to ask him about his past, but she does want to reserve the right to eventually start asking more questions about his family and his name and everything else. Maybe tomorrow she will ask and he will answer, but right now, in the middle of the night, she just wants to have him make things better.

"Azelma is two years younger than I am," she starts at a random point, because she has to start somewhere. "Gavroche was born when I was eight. By the time he was born, our parents were already disillusioned with the idea of kids, and they were already in trouble with the law for the fraud going on at the hotel that they used to own back in the day. I got stuck taking care of Gavroche, because they could not be bothered to do it."

The bad memories that go along with these tales of woe are terrifying and hurtful and altogether all too real for her to deal with. Still, she presses on, because this is not the worst part of her life, and he has already seen her at a very low point in her life, and he managed to make that better somehow. He saw her close to death in an alley and he saved her life. Surely he will listen to the rest of this, because he is a good person and for some fucked up reason he actually seems to be interested in her.

"I used to wake up in the middle of the night when he cried," she stammers. "My parents would hurt him if he cried, because they could not always handle it after they had been drinking. They'd hurt me too if I didn't stop him in time. That was still better than them hurting him. He was so small back then. Now he's taller than all of us."

Gavroche started growing like crazy when he hit puberty, and the very day that he became taller than their father, the abuse against him just stopped. Their father was a smart man, and he knew that he could no longer win against his son.

"I'm sorry," he holds her just a bit tighter.

"You do not have to be sorry for anything," she promises as her tiredness once again attempts to take over. "I am so tired. Hold me. Let me sleep."

Her commands seem to work, because he is once again playing with her hair and keeping her safe as she finally succumbs to the dark. She can sleep now.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

"Good morning, sunshine," she hears Enjolras murmur as her eyes open.

She is still in his arms, somehow, even after several hours of sleep. As a result of this, she actually feels safe and well rested. That is a pretty new feeling for her to have.

"How long have you been staring at me?" she fakes a frown in his direction.

"Only a few minutes," he knows that she is only trying to tease. "How did you sleep?"

There are no vivid dreams in her head, which is strange, because she usually has terrible nightmares after being confronted with past trauma. Is cuddling with her 'Jolras really a cure for evil and pain? If that is true, he is never getting rid of her. Well, he is never getting rid of her anyway, so he might as well get used to her being here.

"Quite well," she is as surprised about is as he appears to be.

"I'm glad to hear that," he sounds oddly formal for the situation they are in.

Once again, he appears to be having problems – and it is not a tiny or a little problem indeed. She can feel it quite well, which means that he is probably blushing and maybe more than a little uncomfortable. She is not sure if it is just regular morning wood or if she did something in her sleep to make it happen. Or maybe he just had a positively filthy dream – hopefully about her – and it was there when he woke up. And now she is seriously pondering the reason for his hard-on – and hoping she is the reason.

"Did my stupid stories keep you awake in any way?" she is now worried about him.

"I kept myself awake," he speaks so softly that she almost does not hear him.

At least he did not say that he kept himself up, because she would not have been able to hear him say that without cracking up like an immature twelve-year-old. When it comes to him, she really wants to be that happy kind of girl who would crack stupid jokes and tease her almost boyfriend about just about everything. When she is with him, she feels carefree enough to try being that person she never really got to be.

"Why? How?" she teases, not being able to think of a third question.

"Two excellent questions," he goes along with the joke, but she gets no answers.

He is once again being supremely evasive, but unfortunately enough for him; she has long ago learned to deal with people who do not want to answer her questions. She has her tactics and her sneaky ploys, and she knows exactly which one she wants to use on her dear 'Jolras. She knows just how to get him really flustered, and she is not too scared to use her most flirtatious tactics on him to find out these answers.

"Don't avoid the questions," she warns him. "I will get these answers out of you anyway."

Still, there is no way that he is buying this threat, and she almost feels sorry for him, because he has no idea of what she can do at this point. Sure, he knows her relatively well, but her mischievous and flirtatious side has yet to be completely exposed to him.

"How are you planning on doing that?" he seems more than a little skeptical.

"I am going to be using my feminine wiles," she announces, turning to face him.

The bed is more than big enough for the two of them, but they still end up coming together in the middle, holding on to each other as if lives depend on it. She needed that badly last night, and the evidence that he needs things as well is still pressing into her, so he cannot get out of this with some casual comment. She grinds her hips into him as the start of her feminine wiles tactic, and it is very effective. He lets out a loud groan and his hips move before he can even think about it – but she cannot really blame him for that since she is now lying completely on top of him. They are very, very close.

"And you think that would be effective on me?" he is trying not to blush.

"I am not stupid, 'Jolras," she rolls her hips again. "Things have changed."

A few months ago he never would have considered being in the same bed her – he might not even have wanted to be in the same room as her. Now they are in bed together, and while that used to be a simple and platonic thing that they did, it is now so much more than that. They have only slept together in the sense of actually sleeping, but she still feels that they are slowly moving towards the other sense of sleeping together.

"That is why I could not sleep," his mutters are too loud for her not to hear him.

"Was I keeping you up at night?" she easily flirts with him, a smile on her face.

Their lips are not too far away from each other, and while she would love to feel his mouth on hers again, she wants him to take the initiative again. She wants him to make the first move, because that would show that he wants this just as much as she does – and she wants to go on where they left off when his phone rang and everything was changed. This time he seems to understand, because he does move closer to her.

"Breakfast is ready in two minutes!" Natalie shouts from the kitchen downstairs.

"I am celibate for a reason, 'Ponine," he is withdrawing into his shell again.

All of the progress that they were making is gone again, and while she really likes Natalie and hopes that they can be friends somehow, she is still extremely angry with her for interrupting what could have been a wonderful moment – again. They seem to be interrupted by other outside forces a lot, and she would have started wondering if anything was meant to happen if she had not seen just how much she affects him with even the simplest things. She knows that something must happen between the two of them – she can see no way for them to move any further without this.

"Tell me your reason," she knows that they can move past this somehow.

"Please, 'Ponine," he pleads, but she is not just going to let this go.

Maybe he is just worried at how she is going to react to whatever reason he has for remaining celibate. Knowing him as she does, she is convinced that the reason is very meaningful – at least for him – and not something random or silly.

"I promise not to laugh at you or make you feel bad about it," she even goes as far as to place her hand on her heart to convince him. "I won't even pity you."

He seems to mostly be worried about garnering her pity, and as a fellow hater of that emotion, she can understand why he would choose not to say anything. Still, hiding these things from her would only make things more difficult for them. They need to tell each other these things so that they can keep moving forward together – and she really, desperately wants to move forward with him as the man that she loves.

"You say that now," he seems skeptical of her solemn vow.

"Do you trust me?" she asks, knowing that his answer will determine their future.

"I do," he responds without even the slightest bit of hesitation.

It warms her heart to hear him say that so easily, because it gives the two of them a solid foundation to build something on. She cannot believe in love without trust.

"Then you can tell me," she is trying to make it easier for him to understand.

"There are some… issues in our family history," he starts his story with that huge revelation, and she flinches in sympathy, because she knows many things of issues. "I'm talking about mental issues. My mom was diagnosed with bipolar disorder years ago, and the only reason that she is relatively stable now is because she has an excellent drug regimen and she goes to therapy two times a week, every week."

There is no perfect way for her to respond to it – at least, if there is even a perfect way to respond to a revelation like this one, she does not know it. She is still on top of him, and she is starting to think that is the weirdest position to have this talk in, so she lays down next to him instead, still pressing her body into his to let him know she is still there.

"What does this have to do with your celibacy?" she prods him to keep talking.

"I always thought that I would inevitably become just like my mother," his voice is pained and distant and she grabs his hand to keep him safe, "and I did not want to drag anyone into that mess. Not that I was even interested in love and sex when I was a teenager. I'd seen my parents together, and while they love each other, the highs and lows can be terrifying. It turned me off relationship for the longest time."

Is he trying to say that something changed for him? He was supposed to say forever, to give her a reason to move on from him because he was never going to be ready to be a part of a relationship. She knows that these thoughts are contradictory to the ones of hope that she had before, but she cannot help but be insecure about this. Hoping that she has made enough of a difference in his life to make him move on from his self-imposed celibacy is just a silly throwaway thought that she should not be having.

"I noticed you did not say forever," she has to address that silly thought of hers.

"I did not mean forever," he confirms that part. "I, just, recently, with you…"

He is stammering, but she can be patient enough to wait until he finally gets to the point that he is trying to make. It seems as if she is a major part of his recent change, and she really has to stop and marvel at that for a minute, until she sees that he is ready to start speaking again. So she gives him another encouraging look, and she waits.

"Breakfast is ready!" Natalie breaks the spell again. "Come downstairs before it's cold!"

At this point she does not give a damn about the temperature of her breakfast, she just wants dear Gabriel to keep talking about the two of them.

"We need to go downstairs," he says what she does not want to hear.

Food is an overrated luxury at this point, because they have been putting this talk off for a long time now, and just when they are getting somewhere, they are once again interrupted by the cruelty of fate. Still, she is just going to keep trying.

"I am not forgetting about this," she warns; ready to bring it up again later.

"I figured that you wouldn't," he smiles a little at that. "Later."

So, this is the point where they really have to let go of each other, at least long enough to get dressed separately and to get downstairs for the aforementioned breakfast. She is feeling like a sap and an idiot, because she does not want to let go of him. They were having this really serious talk and she feels closer to him after that. Also, she still really wants to kiss him again. But no, she has to let go of him, so she does so.

"I'm holding you to that," she is looking for clean clothes.

"We will be right there!" Enjolras calls out to his younger sister.

They are now both in a hurry to get dressed. Her clothes are in one of the dressers, so she quickly picks something that will not be too bad and would work for a day with Gabriel's family, and then she sneaks a peek at what he is doing – he appears to be doing the same thing she is doing: peeking. She is loving it, so she makes the whole event into a sexy reversed striptease. He is easily flustered, and she can work with that.

"I am not blind, 'Jolras," she shoots him a wink. "I can see you staring."

That makes him turn even redder than he was before, and she has never seen a man putting his clothes on faster. He practically runs downstairs to escape her, but she is not going to let him get rid of her that easily, so she quickly follows suit.

"Good morning lovebirds," Natalie singsongs when they find the kitchen.

"Please don't, Natalie," dear Gabriel is not in the mood for these shenanigans.

There is a stack of absolutely perfect pancakes waiting for each of them, and her stomach decides to announce its happiness at that by rumbling loudly. She cannot even remember ever having a breakfast made for her – let alone one that looks this good. She is damn well going to enjoy this, no matter if Gabe decides to be a shit about things.

"I am going to get my explanation today, Gabe," his younger sister announces in return. "I'm just warning you now, so you might as well give up and tell me everything."

The kind of hidden badass that Natalie appears to be reminds her of her own little sister – only Azelma hides nothing whatsoever, which is incredibly brilliant and completely terrifying at the same time. Little sisters always have interesting opinions about the lives of the older sibling. Azelma told her she had always thought that Marius was an idiot, and that she wanted her older sister to basically ride Enjolras until he did not remember anything other than the name Éponine. And that is the censored version of her opinion.

"Grab some breakfast and go talk," she is not letting him talk himself out of this.

"But who will look after Marie?" 'Jolras is obviously scrambling for excuses.

They can always arrange something for this, because even while she doubts Natalie would easily trust her again with her daughter, she can even take the little girl with them while they have their talk. There will always be a way for this to happen, and he is never getting out of this, so he might as well quit protesting.

"Éponine is perfectly qualified," Natalie stops him. "Stop making up excuses."

To her great surprise, Natalie is actually letting her play with Marie again. Even after her crazy moments in the nursery only a few hours, Natalie has managed to see through her trauma and let her make things up to little Marie and to her.

"I've got things covered here," she shoots Natalie a grateful smile.

Natalie and Enjolras walk away to the nearest separate room, but she knows that they are not going nearly far enough for her to be out of earshot. Judging by the proud smirk on Natalie's face, the other woman actually knows this, and she just really wants her to hear just what 'Jolras has to say about her in this conversation. Natalie is trying to fix this relationship even before she knows what is going on between them.

"Tell me about Éponine," Natalie starts the talk off with a basic statement.

"What do you want to know?" 'Jolras gives her a really evasive question in return.

From her viewpoint next to Marie's adorable seat – because even though the girl cannot really sit up on her own, she is still fabulous – she can see every expression on Natalie's face, but she only has a distant profile view of 'Jolras. It is good enough at this point.

"Stop it, Gabriel!" Natalie is not having any of this crap.

He is obviously dragging his feet, and Natalie is just not having any of it. She is giving him that look that all women learn as soon as they become mothers – she herself has the older sister and part-time mother version of this look down to a tee. It has scared her siblings into telling her the truth many times, and she can already see that it is working on Enjolras as well. She loves that his younger sister can make him talk like this.

"Your mommy is really cool, Marie," she whispers to the grinning baby in front of her.

"Alright, I will talk," Gabriel is exasperated already. "My God, Natalie."

At this point, she is stifling her laughter. It is just so odd seeing him in these almost normal situations with his sibling – because no matter what he told her about this relationship being messed up and fractured, they still act as the typical siblings. She recognizes some bits of Azelma and Gavroche in Gabriel and Natalie's dynamic, and that makes her smile as well. She always wants more happy reminders of her siblings.

"Your mom also needs to teach me her tricks," she tells Marie, who giggles in response.

The giggling is probably because she occasionally tickles her, but she is just going to choose to believe that Marie understands everything she is telling her. Besides, it can never hurt to tell a daughter wonderful truths about her mother.

"How did you meet?" Natalie resumes her interrogation of her big brother.

"We met through Marius, when we were in college," he replies. "Do you remember him?"

Oh, surely his sister would remember Marius and the frequent spats between him and dear 'Jolras about the merits of Napoleon Bonaparte. Honestly, she only witnessed a couple of those and she was already more than tired of them. R used to provide these debates with the most amusing subtitles, and they disrupted more than one serious discussion by giggling and screaming their new favorite quotes at each other.

"The flustered, freckled, ferret?" Natalie has a curious nickname for Marius.

"I will never understand your tendency for alliterative nicknames, but yes," he speaks.

Maybe that is the best nickname she has ever heard for anyone in her entire life, but she cannot start giggling, because that would distract her from the conversation that she is desperately trying to eavesdrop on. If Enjolras is going to be too scared to talk about his feelings with her, she is damn sure that she will find out some other way, even if she has to be really sneaky to do so. She has no problem with going about something in a less than conventional way – otherwise this thing might never get off the ground.

"Continue," Natalie gives him the universal motion for "go on".

"Marius and Éponine have been friends since childhood," Enjolras explains, "so Éponine became a part of our group as well, even though she went to a different university."

He explains it well and he explains it easily, without trying any of the emotional mine fields that are sure to hit pretty soon. She is not sure how he will be able to completely explain their relationship without mentioning some of her most embarrassing moments – while she does like Natalie, it does not mean that she wants the other woman to know anything about some of the incredibly stupid things that she did just because she could not manage to get over Marius. That must stay somewhat of a secret.

"So she is one of those Amis people too?" Natalie is trying to understand the connection.

"She is sort of an honorary member, yes," Enjolras' answer surprises her. "But we kept in touch through Marius after college, and we decided to go to his wedding together, since we were the only two out of the group living on this side of the country."

Actually, she found out his home address and basically begged him to be her date for the wedding, because she could not bear to go alone when the love of her life was marrying another woman. She begged and she pleaded for him to be her date, and since he was all about treating people better – or about getting Marius to treat her better – he actually said yes. And the rest was a mess of many things, and then it was history.

"And sparks flew and the rest is history?" his sister wants to know.

"Will you not be so dramatic?" that question has earned Natalie an eye roll from her brother. "You're being much too loud! She might hear you."

He is usually smarter than this, because the distance between them is not far enough for them not to hear each other. Every single time she teases Marie into a giggle, Natalie looks over at them, which tells her that they can hear her as well.

"What happened at the wedding?" at this point Natalie is just looking for juicy gossip.

"Look," her 'Jolras is starting to approach some tales that can get really awkward. "I don't want to tell you all of this stuff that is nobody's business but ours, little sister. I don't want to tell you things that Éponine would not want you to know."

She had pretty much already expected that he would be completely respectful of her secrets, but she is happy to see these suspicions confirmed. She does not particularly want Natalie to know about her feelings for Marius, or how Enjolras and she actually tried to break up an engaged couple – she has a feeling that his sister would not like a single thing about that. No, they are definitely better off saying nothing about that.

"I understand," Natalie at least does not ask for more from him.

"All I'm saying is that Marius believed that we were together," he is not really lying about that, "and we let him continue on with that assumption. Things happened."

It is actually a decent explanation, and they did not have to lie to Natalie. She has gotten more than a bit tired of the lies, because even though she would not have gotten to where she is now without telling lies, she prefers telling the truth. If she does not stop lying now, she will start to have problems keeping everything straight.

"So, is she your girlfriend?" Natalie finally asks the all-important question.

"Natalie!" Enjolras yells out his sister's name as if she just revealed his big secret.

Oh, if only she was his girlfriend. She has never been that much of a fan of using specific titles to define everything, but she wants him to introduce her as something other than just "Éponine". She would settle for "my Éponine", even, as long as he just makes it clear that she is extremely important to him. She just really wants to know, maybe even needs to know that she means something more to him than just another friend.

"That sounds like a no, but not for lack of trying," Natalie uses a teasing tone.

The tries have mostly come from her side, it seems. She just wants him to be upfront about his feelings so that she can be sure about what he wants from her. If he makes a move, she can be sure that he actually wants to pursue something with her.

"I might have feelings for her," he finally admits something she does not already know.

It gets a little harder to focus on tiny little Marie smiling at her when she hears him say that. He cares about her, she has known that much for a while now, but to openly hear him admit that there are actually feelings in play – that is an amazing step forward for the both of them Now if only he could admit it to her as well as to his sister.

"Gabe, there is no 'might' about this," Natalie can see right through him.

"I know," and he actually admits it. "But you have no idea how disconcerting this is!"

He might love her, and that somehow makes her stupid moments worth it, because while she was making a fool out of herself over him, he actually started having feelings for her as well. Now all that she wants is for the two of them to actually talk about this, and she hopes that he will allow himself to end his vow of celibacy for her. She would want to be with him regardless, but she would love to find out if he is as passionate about making love as he is about everything else in his life.

"Feelings are not a bad thing, Gabe, my dear," Natalie smiles at him fondly.

"Please don't patronize me," he just does not want to hear it.

Still, this is a lesson that he still has to learn. He is only just starting to figure out that he actually has romantic feelings, and now he has to learn how to go about dealing with these feelings, and he has to deal with her as well. It is a lot to adjust to for him, she understands that much, and she is perfectly willing to wait for him to figure things out – as long as she can still be by his side, because that is her favorite place to be. She only wants to be with her 'Jolras. She finally wants him to actually be her 'Jolras.

"I have never seen you so torn up about someone before," his sister smiles at him.

She hopes that she is the only one that he has ever felt this way about, because she is starting to think that her feelings for Marius did not compare to this. She actually gets to touch Enjolras and wrap her arms around him and kiss him – and he wants her to do those things. It is much more of an actual partnership than this unrequited torch that she kept carrying for Marius. Her 'Jolras would not lie to her like that, because while he is secretive, once she earns truths from him, it actually means something.

"Natalie, please!" 'Jolras is looking around; trying to find out if she can hear him.

"That is a good thing, Gabriel," Natalie explains. "It means that you really like her."

Anything that follows can only make things better, unless he starts denying things, which she doubts that he will do. Now that he has spoken of his feelings, he cannot go back on this. His sense of honor would not even let him do that. She just hopes that he will tell her after this – they just need to make their feelings known to each other.

"I do," he says all that she wants to hear. "Of course I do."

He makes that sound so easy right now, when just minutes ago he appeared to be having serious trouble with saying the same thing to her. She can almost understand that, because she too finds it easier to tell someone else or to think about it in her head – in her head he cannot completely reject her or make her feel stupid. Not that he would do that, but she still has these irrational fears that keep her from telling him.

"Tell me what's holding you back," Natalie is really trying to help her brother.

"I can't, okay," he looks so very nervous. "Not when she might hear me."

Oh, they are never going to get anywhere if they keep getting this scared of what the other person might say or do. For all of the progress that they have managed to make, they keep standing on the edge and they keep refusing to let themselves fall.

"Later," Natalie gives him an impressive scary look.

"That's what she said," Enjolras is thinking about their earlier conversation.

Now she has to stifle her giggles, because he has no idea what he said and in what context that sentence is usually used. Natalie appears to be finding this just as hilarious as she does, because she is trying to stifle loud laughter as well. The only person who is not amused is her 'Jolras – even Marie is laughing, but she has no idea what is going on with her uncle. The little girl is just really amused by her peek-a-boo skills.

"Let's finish breakfast, shall we?" Natalie motions for the two of them to leave.

When they come back into the room she is playing with little Marie, and the peek-a-boo is making Marie laugh so loudly that Enjolras can't help but notice her. He is looking at her in the oddest way – with so much longing and something that looks a whole lot like love. It is terrifying and exhilarating, and when she notices that he is mostly staring at her and Marie and the way in which she is playing with the little girl she is even more delighted. It looks as if he is thinking of their future children too, and maybe he is hoping for a child with her dimples and her mischievous smile. That is what it looks like.

"Are you okay, 'Jolras?" she tries to get him to talk to her again.

"Yeah, you're fine," he has a little slip of the tongue. "I mean… I don't… I'm fine."

Natalie is quick to take her little girl back, because the way Marie lights up when her mother comes in the room is beautiful and it will never stop making her smile. She stands up then, just to be closer to her 'Jolras. She wants to keep him flustered, because that seems to be the only time in which he says everything he thinks.

"You're adorable," she plants a quick kiss on his cheek.

That makes him blush, which is really what she wanted – that and she just really wanted to put her lips somewhere on his person. And since there is currently a little baby present, she is not going to put her lips in any really special places.

"The both of you are extremely adorable," Natalie points them out to little Marie.

"That is not the word I would use to describe us," she laughs. "Just ask R."

She has never been the adorable kind, because she has always been the mischievous sort who always brought trouble along with her. She is still her parents' daughter, no matter how much she hates every bit of that idea. She never wants to be anything like them, but she cannot figure out a way to be completely separate from them. That kills her.

"Booze for brains?" those words coming from Natalie definitely surprise her.

"I like you," she starts her warning, "but don't be a b-i-t-c-h about R. I will hurt you."

Honestly, she is not having any of this crap about one of her favorite people in the entire world. While Natalie is definitely making her way up that list, she is still losing to R, and any crap told about R is only going to lower Natalie in her esteem.

"I'm sorry, it was not meant to be insulting," Natalie quickly backtracks, and she is just waiting to hear her excuse for this. "I always make up stupid nicknames to keep track of all of the Amis. I can never quite remember all of their names."

There are many Amis, she knows that much, and she did have some trouble with remembering some of these guys – especially in the beginning. She did not know that Bossuet was not actually named Bossuet for the longest time. She still does not know how the guys could get Bossuet from Lesgle, but the convoluted explanation that Marius started to give the one time she asked put her off ever finding out.

"We always call him R," she shrugs at that. "I don't even know what his first name is."

"I know, but he made me swear not to tell," 'Jolras taunts her with that information.

Oh, she is going to find out no matter what he has sworn. This sort of harmless information is easily discovered through the wonders of the Internet, or the wonder of her feminine wiles actually working on him. She is still not over the fact that he is not only physically attracted to her, but that he is also genuinely interested in her, and that he actually has serious feelings for her. She needs to happy dance over this!

"I can always use my wiles on you," she promises, pulling him close.

While she knows that there are more important things going on in his life than their relationship, she is still going to keep reminding him of her presence.

They are going to get it right one of these days!

AN: When people are being shits about our ship – block and ignore! And write fic, create art, and show them that this ship can be beautiful. Love you all!

As always, leave your favorite parts/lines/moments/etc in the comments or reviews!


	17. Chapter Sixteen

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: Don't ask me!

AN: I love you all, dearies. The next few chapters after this will surely strike your fancy. As for this one: you get to meet Senior. It'll be good.

**Chapter sixteen: 180 and 180 equals a mess**

Gabriel walks out of the hospital room and she just pretends that she does not know what happened. The fighting between him and his father was loud enough for her to hear, and the nurses had to come in two times to make sure that senior stayed calm – that is probably why he was sent away now. His father had a heart attack and heart surgery just one day ago, and here her 'Jolras is making him scream and yell. She worries about him, but she also knows that it is just who he is.

The words coming from the hospital room told her a tale of a father with big dreams for his only son – but these dreams were really not the same as the ones his son had for himself. His father wanted his son to go into the family business – he wants his son to be as good of a doctor as he is, rather than the excellent lawyer that he turned out to be. She giggles at the mere idea of her 'Jolras being a doctor, because while he is kind and caring and he wants to help people, he is not very good with blood and guts.

Just him being in a hospital seems to be enough of a victory, because she remembers when she was in the hospital, and he spent the entirety of his five-minute visit to her trying not to stare at the bandages or the tubes. She was just wondering why he was there in the first place, but she eventually managed to find out the truth about that.

Her 'Jolras is a hero whether his father can understand that or not.

"Hey you," she pats the empty chair next to her.

"He wants to meet you," he tells her what she already knows.

He sits down next to her and she immediately grabs a hold of his hand, because she knows that he is going to need her support throughout this ordeal. They still have not talked about them, but there is an unspoken understanding between the two of them.

"I am not going to meet him without you," she tries to look strong. "I don't generally make a good impression on fathers. I hate my own father – I hate his effing guts."

Her wording in this might be a bit too strong, because even after all of the things that have happened over the years, she is still having problems actually hating her parents for what they did to her. They are still her parents and even after everything, she is still their little girl – and that continues to hurt. This business with him and his father is just another reminder that other people have parents who love them very much, and that most people still have the chance to reconcile with their parents. Even though she can never stop loving her parents at least a little bit, there is no hope for a happy family.

"I will go with you," he promises, now looking even more uncomfortable.

"Take a deep breath," she tells him, hoping that he will listen to her. "And then you are going to tell me what the problem is before we go in there."

She waits patiently, because they trust each other a lot, which should mean that he could tell her absolutely everything that he wants to reveal. He does not have to keep any kind of secrets from her, but she is worried that he will withdraw back into his shell and let her guess at what he is feeling. And she thought that they were making real progress.

"There is no problem," he is not willing to admit a single thing could be wrong.

"If that is how you want to play it," she shrugs. "Let's go, 'Jolras."

This is hard: trying not to get frustrated at him and his problems with his father because no matter how much she cares about Gabriel, his problems with his family still feel so minor in comparison to her own – and she knows that she should not be comparing their families to each other, but she cannot help but think that at least his family can be happy again, when it is too late for her and her parents.

"Hello, sir," she is trying her hardest to be polite to this man.

"Who are you?" the man clearly has no idea who she is.

When Enjolras just told her that his father wanted to meet her, he neglected to mention that his father has absolutely no idea who she is. That definitely puts a damper on something that she did not particularly want to do anyway. Sure, she definitely wants to help fix this wonderful family, but she is not in the mood to be treated as a stranger.

"This is Éponine," he introduces her by just her name again. "'Ponine, this is my father."

"It is nice to meet you," she offers her hand for his father to shake.

The shaky handshake that she receives in return is easily explained as being the aftereffect of suffering a massive heart attack and being in surgery all in the last twenty-four hours. She tries a gentle smile, and she gets a sharp stare in return – but it seems more calculating than actually cruel. If she had to guess, she would say that he is trying to figure out if she is good enough for his son. She can understand that much.

"Are you the girlfriend?" his father seems only mildly curious.

"Éponine is a good friend of mine," her 'Jolras is once again being evasive.

Wow, that is such a nice description, and this is just the reason why she should not get her hopes up for this kind of thing. She thought that they were finally moving close to being official, which meant that he could introduce her as his girlfriend, or just as his Éponine. She should not be so upset about this, because there are more important things going on in their lives at this point. So she is going to try to move on from the issue of their relationship, to the issue of his relationship with his father.

"I thought she was more than that," his father notices her frustrations.

"This is still none of your business Dad," 'Jolras huffs. "What did you want us here for?"

This is a conversation better discussed without her there, so she is really trying to stay in the background and not let her voice dominate this conversation. She is going to try to let both of the men have their say, but she will step in if it looks like they are going to be screaming at each other again – she is not going to be responsible for a heart attack, no matter how distantly. She will try to keep her loudness relatively muted for this, because it is not about her whatsoever, but she will try to prevent utter disaster.

"I wanted to apologize," his father grasps his son's hand in his.

It is a very touching moment between these two men, or at least it should be a very touching moment between father and son. The father is reaching out and willing to make peace with his son, and 'Jolras is just not having any of it.

"You wanted to what?" her 'Jolras appears to be developing hearing problems.

"I know I haven't been the best dad," his father appears to be trying not to cry, and her heart goes out to the old man on the hospital bed. "Even before you left for college."

While she will choose the side of her 'Jolras if push comes to shove, she feels so humbled to see an old and fragile man pleading for forgiveness from his child. Her father has never been so vulnerable, and he has never wanted her forgiveness for everything that he had done to her and her siblings. Her father still thinks that everything that he did was the right thing to do, no matter how damaged his children are because of it.

"Are you really doing this now?" her Gabriel is just exasperated and worn down.

"I want to make things right," his father replies. "I don't know how bad things are, but I could be done within the year, and I really don't want you to hate me."

Gabriel Senior has been confronted with his own mortality, and he is terrified of having to go before he made things right with both of his children. Natalie seems easier to deal with in comparison, because they have been in touch over the last few years, while his son – her 'Jolras – has been distant and there has been no contact for a decade. There are many issues to fix here, but at least the man is trying, and she has to give him so much credit for that. At least he is trying, and she hopes that 'Jolras will try too.

"Why would you ask Éponine here for this?" 'Jolras does not get it.

"He is counting on me being a good influence on you for this," she smiles and nudges him before taking a step back. "And he might be right, 'Jolras. Don't keep him away forever."

This time when his father reaches for his hand, he actually holds it for just a little while before taking his hand back and trying not to get emotional about this. Oh, her 'Jolras can be such a curious creature, with his resistance to real and honest emotion.

"Please son, I know that I was wrong about your school," the father is getting emotional.

"You should have known that back then," her 'Jolras responds in a very stoic way.

Oh, the school question is a big issue for them. Her 'Jolras chose a different school and a different major than his father wanted him to, and while she knows that this was a crucial moment in their relationship, she knows that it is only a culmination of other issues that they have yet to address. She wants them to speak of everything; of their love for each other and of the things that they appreciate. She also wants to hear them speak of how they changed in the last ten years, and what they learned about themselves while the other person was apart from them. She wants them to show growth.

"You're right," Enjolras Senior is forced to eat humble pie yet again.

"Someone call the papers!" Junior is being a shit. "My father admitted that I was right."

There is no way she can just let that happen; she is too used to mediating discussions like this one to just let this go without any kind of response. Still, she has to bite her tongue, not able to do anything but to grab the arm of her 'Jolras and to shake her head at him. She knows he is in pain, but she does not want him to go too far.

"I deserved that," his father is resigned to that response.

"Yes, you did deserve that!" there is pain in Gabriel's voice, and she both wants to help and wants to stay distant from this. "I spent most of high school biology working my ass off and hoping that I would not faint or throw up during any kind of practical, and you thought it would be a great idea for me to become a doctor like you!"

He would have been such an awkward teenager, and she wishes she could have known that guy. She met him only shortly after high school, but the minute he set foot on campus, he became so much more self-assured and strong and sure of himself. She has not seen him insecure, except in those last few months since he became her date.

"I believe that you could make a great doctor," his father believes in his son.

"I know you believe that," her 'Jolras is starting to move closer to his father. "I just know I'm better at being a lawyer than I ever would have been at being a doctor."

This, she has absolutely no doubt of, because he is a wonderful lawyer. Some of her students are fans of his work, and now that they know that she is in touch with him – most of the students have made up their minds and started "shipping" the two of them together – she gets many questions about him and his cases. He has inspired several students to attempt to become lawyers themselves, and that makes her proud of him.

"I want to see you in action, then," Enjolras Senior is just so proud of his son.

"You changed your mind that easily?" the meaning of this does not get through to 'Jolras.

Of course this has not much to do with changing his mind, but more to do with just wanting his son to be happy. So if his son is happiest being a great lawyer, he is going to support that decision in any way that he possibly can. Like his father, she definitely wants to see him in action in a court of law – he would wow them all.

"I just want you to be happy, son," father and son are closer to catharsis.

"This is just too cliché," her Gabriel is not having any of this.

She hates clichés just as much as the rest of them, but she still understands where his father is coming from. This is just a thing that most parents say, and something that they mean from the bottom of their hearts – and she cannot help but be so jealous of him for having parents who say things like that to him. She would love to eventually call these people her family as well, because while she loves her siblings and her boys, she would love to have some kind of parental figure that she can lean on when she does not know what to do – she will never be old enough to not want to have parents around.

"Clichés are all born out of truths," Senior is a smart man. "That is what they tell us."

Pinching the hand of her 'Jolras, she is trying to make him see how much it is hurting her to hear him in pain, and to hear him deny the love that his father is attempting to give to him. She wants these two men to reconcile, and she will do anything to accomplish it.

"That is so nice," Gabriel is rolling his eyes at his father.

"That is not what I mean, Gabriel," his father continues to plead. "You know that."

If any of the students coming to her office acted so childish and petulant, they would be in so much shit with her. Even now she is close to reprimanding Gabriel for acting like this, but she can also see that he is lashing out because there is still so much pain left in him because of his complicated past with his father. She wants him to release that pain and to move on from it while he still can – it is too late for her.

"I don't know anything," he is still so hurt. "I haven't seen you in ten years."

Ten years is a long time to go without family, but she also knows that it is not too late for this family to heal itself. She will help her 'Jolras and his family to make things better, and she knows that her presence has already made a difference in the relationship that her Gabriel has with Natalie. Seeing her brother as a normal guy has made Natalie feel closer to him, and Gabriel is so interested in being a good uncle to Marie.

"Can we try again, Gabriel?" there is a final plea from Gabriel Senior to his son.

"I don't know," it is such a correct answer that she is not sure that it is genuine.

He is a strong man, and he has proven that to her so many times that she wonders why it is still so easy for him to turn back into an insecure teen – still, she can get that it has to do with seeing his father again after ten years. She just wants to stand by him and support him during this difficult moment, and she will not stay silent the whole time.

"You can try, 'Jolras," she knows that he needs the encouragement at this point.

"Why would you say that?" he seems hurt at this insistence. "You know that I…"

She knows all about hurt feelings when it comes to parents, and this is exactly why she is urging him to try to mend bridges with his father and the rest of his family. She knows what happens when hatred and pain are left to fester until there is nothing left of love and other more endearing qualities. There is only pain left in her relationship with her parents, and there are few memories of happy times to make up for it.

"I told you about my parents," her voice breaks a little. "At least, I told you only some of what they did to me, and if I have my way, you will never know everything. They beat me down, both with fists and with words, and I can never forgive them for that, but I still love them. Can you forgive your father for what he has done to you?"

There is very little to forgive, in her opinion, compared to what she has suffered – still, she does not want to act as if his problems are somehow lesser than hers. She wants him to feel heard and acknowledged, but instead he chooses to pity her.

"Ponine," he moves to wrap his arm around her, and she reluctantly lets him.

"Don't start pitying me, or we are done," she warns him, whispering in his ear.

If all he can do after her little speech is pity her, something has gone terribly wrong. She did not say any of this to sound sad or to garner pity; she just wanted him to understand that while her family is beyond saving, he still has a chance to fix things. While it is very nice to have him so very close to her again, she does not want this to be for any stupid reasons of pity. She is a strong woman who does not need anyone's pity, and for once she is not using the strong woman part as some ironic joke about not needing a man.

"I was not going to pity you," he speaks, and she wants to tell him not to lie to her.

A story like this always gets her unwanted pity, and that is why she so rarely tells her story to people. It is not only because they simply would not understand how terrible and hurtful family and parents can be, but also because they often look down on her for not escaping or not doing anything to stop it. She still believes that she has done what she could – or what she was brave enough to do, anyway – but still people have blamed her for how she and her siblings have turned out. Honestly, she believes that they have managed to be excellent and functioning members of society, and she is proud of them for managing that after the abuse they endured together in childhood.

"What were you going to do?" she is skeptical of his words to her.

"I was going to tell you how amazing I think you are," he smiles down, and she is floored.

This is not something that she expects him to say, because he is not that guy who throws around compliments like this one. He does not always use his words, especially when things can be misconstrued as possibly being romantic. The idea of romance, especially in public, terrifies him – even though he can be very sweet and almost romantic when they are alone together. Still, now that his father is present, he is so much more hesitant around her. She wishes that he would hold her more, and that is a terrifying thought.

"Did you switch bodies with Marius?" she has to make light. "You are never this sappy."

She already needs him too much, so if he finally decides to remain celibate – or more accurately, to go back to celibacy – she will be quite lost without him. She has gotten a little too used to being held at night and to feeling safe. That is not something that she ever thought she would feel again, let alone long enough to get used to it. Still, he has made her feel safe and stronger than she has been before, which partly makes her feel ridiculous – because she was fine on her own – but it is also a nice feeling to have an equal partner that she can depend on. She has never had the chance to feel that before.

"How do you ever expect me to say nice things when you respond like this?" he teases.

"Is this the part where I should tell you to get a room?" Senior joins in on the fun.

There is no other way to respond to that than to burst out laughing at the old man's wicked sense of humor, and even her 'Jolras reluctantly cracks a smile. She elbows him until he acknowledges just how funny it was. The resulting smile takes her breath away, at least a little bit. She always likes seeing him happy, and making him happy.

"We share a room at Natalie's place," she speaks up with a proud grin.

"You did not have to tell my dad that!" her 'Jolras is immediately terribly embarrassed.

Honestly, is 'Jolras still going to pretend that they are totally platonic friends? She has seen his naked butt – by accident – and she has had his tongue in her mouth. He gave her hickeys while she had her legs wrapped around his waist – in front of their friends. It is more than a little too late to make this into something simple and platonic. She feels that it is too late to stuff their want for each other back into a secret hiding place, because she wants to be free to kiss him whenever they feel like it. He is still holding back from her.

"He will find out eventually, right?" she shrugs, hating the secretive atmosphere.

"Nothing weird happened Dad, really," he turns into an awkward teenager.

He fidgets, and he tries to let go of her in his embarrassment. Gabriel is still so awkward about this that she just has to shake her head and press him closer to her. She is curled up into his side and trying to stifle her giggles into his neck – but she is sure that Gabriel Senior notices all of it no matter how much they try to hide.

"You are so effing adorable," she smiles at her 'Jolras. "Pardon my French."

Oh, she is just trying to be ironic and funny with that last bit. She really wants to drop an f-bomb in front of 'Jolras again to see him go crazy, but even she is not brave and/or crazy enough to say that in front of his father. That would be going too far.

"Are you trying to drive my dad crazy?" he just does not let her in enough.

"I am trying to drive you crazy," she sticks her tongue out at him. "And it is working."

Since she is used to driving him crazy in various other ways, it takes a while for him to make the connection to this situation, and that cracks her up beyond belief. She has managed to get him flustered again, and that always considerably impacts his usual wittiness and sharpness. She is proud of herself, and his father is grinning.

"How do you -?" Enjolras stammers when he finally figures it out.

"I will just let you and your dad talk a bit more," she pats him on the shoulder.

She leans in just the slightest bit, trying to make him believe that she would move in for the kill – or the kiss, really. She withdraws at the last second, because she is still not done messing with him. She doubts that she will ever really be done with that.

"Ponine!" he calls out her name with surprise and affection.

"And remember to be forgiving," she grins at him and then turns around.

Mister Enjolras is still smiling at their antics, and because she has to leave him for a little while as well, she is going to say goodbye to him as well, in a friendly way.

"Miss Éponine." Gabriel Senior addresses her with a pleased smile.

"It was nice meeting you, sir," she clasps his hand, already a little fond of him.

Having him as a father-in-law of any kind would be quite lovely, and she is now already starting to imagine being a real part of Gabriel's family – she is taking it too far again, because he does not seem to really want to make this relationship work. He is still so scared of committing to this thing, and of giving up on his idea of celibacy. She wonders if she is still perceived as nothing but a distraction from what he wants to accomplish, because he just wants to find out what having sexual feelings is like.

"Call me Gabriel," Senior asks of her, and she has to shake her head.

"Nope, that is just going to be too awkward," she smiles at him in consolation.

There is just no way that she is going to call Gabriel's father by the same name that he has – even though she rarely calls him Gabriel out loud. It will just be too weird, so they have to come up with an alternative that will not make her flinch all of the time.

"Senior?" the old man proposes, and she ponders it for a while.

"I can do that," she tells him finally, smiling. "And maybe when darling Gabriel here finally pulls his head out of his ass, we can move up to Dad."

The words used might not have been the best option, but she feels that they do get her point across quite well. She wants to be significant, and she wants to at some point be seen as a daughter-in-law by this man. Enjolras and his doubts about celibacy, those things are basically the only things in the way of that – she wants it to be real.

"That is a very nice idea," Senior seems happy to have her around.

"You just call me Éponine," she reminds him in return. "No miss, no nothing."

Somehow she has already charmed his father, and his sister also likes her. She is usually so abrasive and divisive at a first meeting, and here these people actually like her almost immediately. It is so new to her that she is still a bit surprised.

"How do you keep doing that?" her 'Jolras is trying to sound exasperated.

"You're impressed and you know it," she says. "I'll see you in the waiting room."

She plants a quick kiss on his lips, to tell him that she will see him again soon. He will not let her get away so easily, so there is another kiss, and another one. It is all relatively chaste – there are no tongues, because they are still in his father's hospital room – but it is still not completely appropriate for his dad's eyes. Still, she likes it.

"I am not into this kind of thing, kids," they are interrupted. "Not in front of me, please."

They break apart rather quickly after those words, and she is more than the slightest bit embarrassed at being caught in front of his dad – at starting something in front of his father, who he had been feuding with. The situation is indeed odd, but she still believes that this is a good thing – he did not let her go when she had planned to walk away from him to leave him wanting. Now they are both left wanting, and very embarrassed.

"Sure thing, Senior," she tries not to blush as she speaks.

"Sorry about that, Dad," her 'Jolras apologizes to Senior as well.

After hearing the apologies, she walks into the hallway and tries to hear the rest of the conversation from there. The best things are often said when a person walks away, and she would love to hear just what they think about her without them having to censor themselves because she is in the room with them. She wants to know.

"She is certainly a firecracker," Senior sounds like he is still smiling.

"That does not even begin to cover her," even her 'Jolras now sounds happy.

The scores are in, and they are overwhelmingly positive. Now she is ready to walk away from the Doctor's hospital room – calling him that in her head makes her giggle – and to go back to her same old chair in the waiting room, because she figures that these two might be a while longer. Only she stops in her tracks when she hears that she is the topic of conversation still, because she cannot resist hearing what else they have to say.

"I like her," Doctor Enjolras has made his opinion clear.

"I might be in love with her," that is the admission that really floors her.

When she finds out that he feels confident enough about his feelings that he is admitting them to his estranged father, that is when she is seeing how serious he can be about this relationship that they are still working on. This is just another step for them!

"He loves me," she whispers to herself, giddy with the feeling.

She has to walk a bit further away from Enjolras Senior's hospital room, because she does not want her happy dance to be heard or seen by any of the two men who are currently in that room. She takes the steps, careful not to get into anyone's way as she makes her way into the mostly empty waiting room.

"He loves me," she says it out loud this time, her smile taking over her face.

The few people who are in the waiting room still are slowly starting to take notice of her and her happiness, and they appear to be a bit apprehensive. Still, she cannot contain herself, and her feet start dancing before she even thinks about what she is actually doing. She spins and twirls and jumps and she does not think that she has ever been so ridiculously, obnoxiously happy in her life. He loves her. He actually loves her!

"He loves me," she needs to hear those words one more time. "He loves me!"

There are some laughs at her movements and her words, and that laughter; it only fans the flames going on inside of her. Gabriel Enjolras loves her, Éponine Thénardier!

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

That night, when they are in bed together, after she made up a stupid excuse about being really tired to his mom and sister, he is so quiet and distant that she feels like she might as well just start trying to get some sleep. It seems as if he is actively avoiding her and her touch, and her feelings are pretty damn hurt. She just wants to lick her wounds in private, but that is not possible, so she might as well get some sleep.

What the hell happened between the moment where he told his father that he might be in love with her and this, she does not know, but the 180 he did is terribly upsetting and it does not bode well for the future. If he can change his mind about her so easily, she is not going to be able to depend on him as much as she wants to. She just wants him to own up to his feelings in front of her, and while she understands that he might have some concerns about ending his celibacy, she just wants them to move further. But maybe she is just not good enough, and that is why he is having second thoughts.

Maybe it is her fault that he cannot seem to make this official.

"You are not really tired, are you?" he asks her that as if he is more than a little scared.

"Of course I am not tired," she smiles. "I wanted to have some private time with you."

He is looking distinctly uncomfortable at this, and she wonders what she did wrong this time, because all she did was admit that she wants to spend more time with him. She is admitting that he is important to her and she wants to move forward from where they are now, and he is not reacting the way that she had hoped that he would. Why is every move that she makes too much for him? Why can she not do a thing right?

"You should be looking happy, instead of terrified," her tone is a little too accusing.

"Can we not talk for a while?" he still does not give her any kind of reason.

There are miles between them, metaphorically, even though they are close enough to look at each other very clearly. And this distance is all him, because she is trying to move and she just cannot do it because he looks away from her too much for her to feel comfortable with him at this point. He is making her feel inadequate, and it hurts.

"What else would you propose we do?" she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively, trying to distract the both of them from the hurt and the pain going on inside.

It seems as if he actually has to think on that for a while, because it takes a while before he slowly brings her closer to him so that he can hold her better. They are no longer facing each other – she wonders if he is scared to look her in the eyes – because he is being a big spoon to her little spoon. While it is nice, she has come to like the moments that she is pillowed on his chest or that they are more entangled and able to look at each other when they do decide to talk. He is distant even when holding her.

"I can still talk this way," she says this as a way to teasingly warn him she is on to him.

The only way to keep this thing between them from happening is to distract her from what she is planning to say to him – and with the two of them in bed there is only one kind of distraction on her mind. While she would love to get physically closer to him at this point, she really mostly wants to make this thing real between the two of them. A talk would actually be her preferred option at this point, but she knows that he would rather distract her with physical affection than talk to her about their future.

"Please, Éponine," he still sounds actually scared of her and what she will do.

"You are going to have to come out of your comfort zone some time," she warns.

There is a long silence, as he appears to be pondering this. She is tired of being the one to make the moves, and if they do ever want to move forward and make this an official relationship, he is going to have to get over his fears. She is legitimately tired now and there is still in ache in her heart when she is reminded of just how easily he can let her go. She just wants him to keep her so close – but she cannot see it happening.

"Jolras?" she is still waiting for a response from him.

He moves to face her instead of giving her any kind of verbal response, and he kisses her passionately, maybe – or probably – so that he does not have to talk about anything involving their relationship. She lets him distract her like this, with his magic fingers on her skin and his lips covering hers, because she wants him so badly. .

"Gabriel," it is the wrong word to moan, but it slips out anyway.

It is too late to do anything about it, though. He stills for a little while, and then he slowly starts to continue his ministrations. His lips are moving on her neck, gently applying suction and occasionally softly nibbling on the sensitive skin he finds. She is breathing heavy, and her skin feels like it is on fire – his hands are on her waist, barely moving but still leaving her stomach tangled up in knots. He is good at this, and she just wants.

Oh, how she wants and wants. So she entangles their legs, practically wrapping herself around him to make sure that he will not go anywhere – she is not going to let him change his mind about this again.

They are now tangled up in bed together, and he does not even seem all too disturbed by that, seeing as he is trying to take his own shirt off without letting go of her or ending their kisses – which is basically impossible, but he manages it somehow, only letting go of her for a second and then starting to unbutton her own shirt – with his teeth.

"Please," her voice is a cross between a breath and a moan.

He breaks it off without another word, and she is once again disappointed and hurt by him doing a complete 180. In theory, him doing two 180s would involve them being right back where they started, but that theory has failed her, because all he is doing is distancing himself even more than he did before. She has never thought him so changeable and fickle, and it is surprising that he has turned out to be that kind of person when she expected so much more of him. Fuck, this hurts!

"Damn it, 'Jolras!" she is not even trying to hide the break in her voice.

"What are we even doing, 'Ponine?" he asks in return, sounding so frustrated as well.

When a boy and a girl like each other very much, they often try to express that love in a really physical way – and she cannot finish that thought without getting even more annoyed with him for being a total dick about this. She would like to be a total sarcastic bitch to him at this point, but she also knows that is not going to help their already annoying slash complicated situation. She just has to deal – again.

"I really wanted to crack a stupid joke, but I won't," she rolls her eyes at him.

At this precise moment, she is so angry with him that she just wants to drive back to her apartment – in his stupid car – and go back to work. She has already missed several days' worth of work for him, and now he is being a distant asshole and it feels like the whole trip was not worth it, because he obviously does not want her there with him. It seems like a waste, and maybe she did jump on this Enjolras thing too soon after she tried to get over Marius. Maybe she should just be single for a while.

"I don't mean what we're doing right now," he now seems annoyed as well.

"I get that," she lets her annoyance speak as well. "But since you are intent on being super vague and irritating, I can't always know what you fucking mean."

There are a whole lot more terribly bad words currently going through her head, and she really wants to scream out all of them – but she also does not want to wake Natalie, Henry, or little Marie. She has grown to like all of them, and she does not want to be responsible for their lost sleep. So she waits for him to infuriate her some more.

"I am not being vague on purpose," he is trying to make her calm down a bit.

"But you are being vague," she responds, taking deep calming breaths.

He seems to have realized that he has not been very clear, and that his refusal to talk about things has actually hurt her feelings pretty badly. He now has to start to make things right for her, and she is not going to lift a finger to help him unless he has something really good to say to her. She honestly doubts that he can say anything other than that he is sorry, but she is still going to let him give it a shot.

"This is just a bit of a mess, 'Ponine," he follows her breathing example. "So many things have changed between the two of us. First we meet and you hate my guts, suggesting that I perform something anatomically impossible on my person. Then you show up at my doorstep to ask for my help and we become partners in crime. And then you want me to kiss you. I never wanted to deal with this, because I don't know how to deal with this. I don't know how to deal with what we are doing in general."

So, he is just as scared and confused as she is, and that makes it a lot less easy to be angry with him. Her anger is fading by the minute, because she understands just how confusing this whole thing has been for the both of them.

"In general?" she snipes. "I think we're doing this thing called falling in love."

At least, she is doing this thing called falling in love, and he was supposed to be right there along with her, falling as well. He was supposed to tell her so, and they were supposed to live happily ever after – because she has earned her happy ending.

"I can't do that," he sounds angry and terrified all at once.

"Then who was the guy telling his sister and his father he might be in love with me?" she just has to ask him. "I like that guy. If you could send him along, I'd be much obliged."

This is the closest she can get to telling him all about her feelings without having to say the words outright, especially when he is acting like this. There is no way that she is going to admit to having romantic feelings for him right now. He is too unpredictable and too insecure about his own feelings for her to take another step forward in their relationship. This in-between stage is terrifying and tiring, and she just does not know which way to move. There is absolutely no way to go about this that won't get her hurt, and she is tired of being the one who always gets hurt.

"Éponine," he just sounds tired now.

"Nope, I am not having this," she is not letting this go even for the slightest or shortest amount of time. "You said you had actual feelings for me and then you suddenly turn into an asshole. Are you trying to beat Marius as my worst experience in love? Because Montparnasse might beat the both of you on that front!"

It is suddenly so easy to snipe at him, and to throw out the words that she has been keeping in since he did his first 180. Finally it is like the shame has gone and she can finally really tell him what she is feeling. She is tired and frustrated and she is oh so very angry and hurt by his behavior. She is basically falling apart because she has once again pinned too much on her hopes for a relationship with him – she should have known, she should have learned from the debacle with Marius. Still, nothing has really changed.

"Are you really comparing me to him?" he misunderstands her yet again.

"You are not that terrible, no," she reassures him. "But you are being a total asshat!"

The word probably does not even mean something, but she is just so angry that any other word just will not form. He just needs to listen to her!

"Asshat," the mood shifts again when he starts laughing.

"Stop laughing," now she is really, rightfully, furious!

She smacks his arm because he is too busy laughing like an idiot to listen to her. Her shirt is still half unbuttoned, and she huffs while focusing on that, trying to let him get the madness out of his system first. The buttons are a bit messed up, but the shirt is still wearable – she wonders why she is not wearing an easier shirt. All she is going to be doing in the shirt is sleeping. Any option for wildness has gone away.

"I'm sorry, 'Ponine," he smiles at her and pulls her close.

"No, we are not doing that again," she pushes him away. "You cannot think that things will be fine as soon as you touch me. We need to talk about things!"

Cuddling is nice, and she will always like being in his arms, but she is not just going to let him make up for his asshole behavior by wrapping his arms around her and hoping that solves everything. There has to be so much more to it than that.

"What do you want me to say?" he goes from amused to being resigned to his fate.

"Do you have feelings for me?" she asks it outright.

They do need to talk, and she is stubborn enough to make him talk. No matter how much he will try to avoid answering such a loaded question, she is going to wait him out, because he has to tell her eventually. He will tell her everything eventually – he has no idea of all of the ways that she can use to make him talk.

"I do," he says, and that answer makes the butterflies in her stomach flutter.

So, no matter what he says next, when she has to start with the more difficult questions, she will still know that she has feelings for her – beyond a shred of doubt. She holds that truth and hides it somewhere in the walls surrounding her heart. She feels like doing another stupid happy dance, just like the one she did in the hospital, but she cannot do that when she is in bed, and she certainly cannot do it in front of him.

"Do you want to be in a relationship with me?" she asks a more difficult question.

"I don't know," he gives her an answer she does not want to hear.

The feelings are there, but he is not completely willing to act on them, and she does not know if he will ever be willing to take it as far as to get into a legitimate relationship with her. It is something she wants badly, but it is also something that cannot be forced if he is not ready or simply does not want to go that route.

"I am willing to try," he offers then.

It is a relatively harmless statement, but it also does not tell her very many things about the future of their relationship. His willingness to finally give this thing between the two of them a try is good, but it does not say or promise anything real.

"What does that mean exactly?" she asks, snuggling into his side.

"It means that we can take steps," he starts. "I don't want to go around telling everyone that we are in a relationship, but here, with my family, we can try."

So it is basically going to be a relationship, but it is just going to be his dirty little secret – he is not going to tell anyone that this thing between the two of them is real. She fears that he is embarrassed or ashamed of her for some reason, and she hurts again because of this. She does not want to be anyone else, but she wants him to love her.

"Are you ashamed of me?" the feeling that gives her hurts pretty badly.

"Of course not," the passionate reply assuages her fears and doubts. "I just want to make sure I won't end up being terrible at being in a relationship before I hurt your feelings again. I am still celibate, and I have to come to terms with that too."

His life has changed so much because of her, and she should not blame him for needing more time to deal with that on his own terms. She cannot force him to be ready for this, because that would be wrong and the consequences would be disastrous. She just wants so badly, and that makes her even more impatient than she is normally. She cannot wait for her happily ever after for too long – and she is starting to doubt that he even is her happily ever after. Still, she just wants to make sure, and for that, she has to wait.

"You are not quite celibate anymore," she has to remind him.

"I still define myself as celibate," he mutters, and she knows that this is not going to end well. "While I am attracted to you, I really do not know how to proceed."

What she wants from him at this point in time is basically progress, and if he can give her that, she will be content to wait quite a long time for the full package of him. She just wants him to acknowledge that she means something to him so that they could move on from there. All she wants is to move further, no matter how slow of a process that is.

"One step at a time," she offers up a valid option.

"I think that I can do that," he smiles at her, leaning in for a sweet kiss.

She smiles happily and goes in for the next one herself.

AN: This is just another step – and they are getting closer, but they are stubborn. Still, I can now tell you that it looks like MBFW will have 20 chapters, and a prologue and an epilogue – 22 parts in total. We're getting closer to the endgame.

Leave me your favorite parts/lines/etcetera in your reviews! Love you all!


	18. Chapter Seventeen

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: If you think I own this, you are dumber than [insert stupid person here]

AN: We're heading towards the ending. One more chapter after this one – you're going to like that one – and then an epic epilogue.

I've been asked to include the following warning:

_Warning: this chapter may contain feels. Too much consumption of these writings can have the following symptoms: laughing, crying, hysterical behavior, unexplained switching between happiness and depression, screaming of key phrases, and in extreme cases DEATH Read at your own risk._

**Chapter seventeen: Let's Talk (About Sex)**

Her big brother has always been one of her favorite people in the world, and that is why it always broke her heart that he resented her stupid brain. She idolized her big brother regardless, because people liked him a lot more than they liked her – apparently Gabriel never made people feel quite so stupid as she did. She was so much smarter than most other people her age that they taunted her and teased her and bullied her. Her brother may not have liked her all that much, but he always protected her.

"Can we talk?" her big brother looks particularly nervous, and she knows that this is probably going to get really good, really fast. "In private."

Gabriel is looking all around him like he is trying to find a spy, but that only serves to make him seem extremely paranoid about their conversation being overheard by the family members now present in the house. Everyone else is preparing for the farewell brunch, because her big brother is going back home – and taking his girlfriend along with him. She knows that Gabriel says that Éponine is not his girlfriend, but she also knows that Gabriel would not be sharing a bed with just anyone.

"Let's go upstairs," she walks ahead of him to the now empty guest bedroom.

All of his stuff has been packed already, and even dear Éponine has already tossed her bags into the back of Gabriel's car. The house already feels different without her brother's presence in the room down the hall, and she wonders why her own house would feel empty – she and Henry have barely gotten used to having Marie around, but there is still this emptiness where her brother used to be. Still, she appreciates having him around at all. She will miss him, but this time she knows that he will be back.

"What's wrong?" she asks, seeing him awkwardly standing in his own room – or the room that she kind of considers to be his. "You can sit down, you know."

He has followed her upstairs, but he has not quite managed to follow her into the bedroom, as he appears to be awkwardly hanging in the doorway. She has to motion rather exaggeratedly for him to come sit down right next to her, and it still takes him really too long to follow her orders to the letter. She is usually much more successful at making people do her bidding – she was a terror when she was pregnant.

"Éponine and I," he stammers, wringing his hands. "We are… I am… She… We…"

Oh, she is about to get that further look into that relationship after all. She thought that he would manage to stay away from her until the minute he left the house.

"Take a deep breath and just tell me what you need to say," she has to hide a smile.

"Would you happen to have some condoms lying around?" he just blurts it out.

That is just about the last thing that she would have expected him to ask her. He is her celibate big brother, the one who agreed with her when she said that boys were gross, and the one who understood how weird and gross first kisses were. He just never moved on from that stage, because he continued to believe that any kind of romance was a very ridiculous distraction from what he could accomplish out in the world. She is happy to see him change his mind about that – she never wanted him to be alone.

"That is a curious question to ask," she delays giving him any kind of answer.

"I suppose it might be," he continues to stammer. "Still, do you have any?"

His Éponine is surprisingly right for him, even though at first sight they seem like a very odd couple. The woman is much more mischievous and carefree than her brother has ever been, but somehow that manages to make him take on more of those qualities.

Still, he is remarkably embarrassed about having to ask her this question about his relationship and how it has been progressing – she is really trying not to pat him on the head and trying extra hard not to make a patronizing comment. She is still definitely going to make a few stupid jokes at his expense – she is his little sister after all, which means that making fun of him is basically in the contract. It comes with the deal.

"Why would you need them?" she has to make this embarrassing for him.

"I was going to have a water balloon fight later," he deadpans. "Natalie, please do not make this any worse than it already is. This is already mortifying enough for me!"

Oh, she is just going to keep drawing this out for as long as she can. Her big brother is coming to her for a freaking condom, and there is no way that she is going to let that opportunity for mockery just fly by without comment. She is going to go for this, because she is a recent mom who does not have a lot of fun excitement going on at the moment – especially not the kind of excitement that involves her older brother being the one to basically ask her for help. She kind of wants to give him the actual sex talk.

Then she realizes that him asking for condoms means that this would be the first time.

"You and Éponine have not had sex yet?" she asks, surprised at that much.

"I do not want to have this conversation," he looks away from her.

That is a definite yes, and she is starting to worry that the relationship between her brother and his first serious girlfriend is less than perfect. She wants him to have the same kind of happy ending that she got – finding the right person on the first try and building a life together. She wishes that he would realize that he is capable of so much love that any person in his life is lucky to have him. Right now, she will just tease.

"When you ask me for condoms," she starts with a gleeful grin, "you can expect getting the full interrogation of your relationship and your sex life."

There is no way that she is going to just give him condoms and send him off without so much as a "have good sex!" on the way out the door. She is going to make sure that he is ready for this huge step, and she is going to make sure that he actually loves this damaged girl – Éponine cannot hide everything behind a smirk or a smile. This relationship might be difficult, but she thinks that it can work.

"What do you absolutely have to know?" he reluctantly gives in to her.

"Everything," she starts, wanting to see him freak out a bit more. "Well, only just about everything. Why do you not have condoms when you are obviously with someone? How is that celibacy thing working out for you? How does Éponine feel about this?"

She has so many questions that she can ask him at this point, but she is already having trouble not tripping over her every word because she wants to say so much in such a short amount of time. She wants to fix his every problem and she wants to comfort him – but most of all she wants to know if he is very sure about taking this step.

"Are you even ready for this?" she runs out of steam.

"I don't know," he follows her lead, and they are both lost for words.

Her big brother is still so confused about relationships, and she knows that they have not gotten the most normal or conventional example of love – she never doubted that their parents do love each other very much. They have trouble showing it in normal ways, and they love each other too much to think of the children – at least that was how she used to feel when she was younger. Gabriel probably felt that way too.

"Talk to me, Gabe," she relies on the childhood nickname to do the trick.

"Nat," he sounds like that lost little boy again. "I do care about her. I really do. I don't know how she wormed her way into my heart, but she did. But I can't fall in love with her, Nat. I cannot be like dad, or like mom. I can't do it."

The sort of epic love that their parents have always claimed to have is not for the two of them. Sure, she loves Henry very much, and she will happily spend the rest of her life waking up next to him – but if he asks her to choose between him and Marie, she will choose her little girl without so much as a doubt. Still, she knows that Henry would do the same, and that he would never make her choose. Theirs is a love that will last a lifetime, but not the ages. She has enough romance, and she is happy in her own life – now all that is left is to make sure her big brother is happy as well. It is difficult.

"So why would you have sex with her?" she asks, hearing her heart breaking.

"I want to know what it's like," he stammers, but she knows that is only one part of his reason. "I do like her, and I am very much attracted to her physically. I think she might love me and I don't want to hurt her by withholding sex. I like her. I really do. I cannot picture myself being with anyone else in this way. I do not want anyone else."

Oh, he is in love with his Éponine, and while their love might not be as epic – no lives ruined yet, no bloodshed, no years and continents – she is sure it is a good kind of love and she is sure that it will make him change and grow.

She has seen this love in him – it has become so obvious to her in only a few days that she wonders why others have not seen it as well. He gravitates towards his Éponine whenever she is even remotely near him – she is gravity and he feels the pull every single time. He smiles more around Éponine, and when he talks about her she can read him like a book – he loves that girl, whether he wants to admit it or not. He touches her more than she has ever seen him touch anyone – he was always the way who was uncomfortable with hugs, until she saw him holding Éponine's hand as if this was just normal procedure for the two of them. That was when she knew it was real.

"Sex should be about love or like," she has to lecture. "Sure, you do not want to hurt her feelings, but if you are less than sincere about this, you will hurt her more."

He wants her to like him, it seems, but he does not want to admit to it. He wants to make his Éponine happy, but he does not quite know how to go about it without coming out of his comfort zone. He must though, because if he really wants to keep her, he cannot keep himself from loving her or keep himself from being with her. They must be able to move further, to progress and learn from each other. This is just one of the steps to take.

"I know," he seems pained at this.

"I will give you your condom," she tells him, trying to reassure him. "But I think you should think about it more. And I think that you should talk to Éponine about what you are feeling. You can tell her, and she will understand you."

At this point, she has stood up from the bed. She starts rummaging through the drawers of the nightstand next to it – because she was smart enough to leave condoms there if her brother was silly enough to forget them. Apparently he did not look very closely for the condoms – because they are right there in the drawer where she left them.

"She can't," he tries again, and she shakes her head.

"Gabe, that girl loves you," she now feels like an older sister. "I don't think she has ever been in a happy relationship, but she is still willing to try with you."

He appears to be thinking about that, as she tries to grab a whole bunch of the condoms in the drawer just so she can start getting him flustered again. This is just the kind of stuff she needs to make him blush and eventually crack a smile after she managed to bring up some old issues. Oh well, they'll muddle through.

"What kind of condom do you want?" she is ready to tease him once more. "I have ribbed for her pleasure, and there are probably some with flavors – if you want to get down."

That last dirty pun might be a bit too much, because her big brother appears to be choking on thin air in response. She is having too much fun with this, so she is just going to wait until he gives her a real response. She did ask a question, after all.

"Natalie," he is trying to sound admonishing, but she is not having any of that.

"Gabriel," she speaks in response, waving the merchandise in his face. "Which kind?"

All of this stuff so close to his face makes him fall off the bed, but he manages to catch himself before he hits the floor and actually hurts himself in the process. She stifles a laugh, and waits for him to get up before waving the condoms in his face again, just delighting in how flustered he gets because of it. Teasing her big brother is just too much fun, and she does not ever want it to end. He still has not answered her question.

"One of those ribbed things," he mutters so softly she can barely hear him.

"That is so lovely of you to think of your girlfriend's pleasure," she just has to make it worse than it already is. "You should take several. I don't know about your stamina, and you need to have a spare if one breaks. Just take the box, really."

There is no way that she even wants to think about her big brother's stamina and the dirty details of what he will get up to in bed with his dear girlfriend – yet, he reacts so wonderfully to her calling Éponine his girlfriend that she is going to keep doing it just for the response. And this conversation is so wonderfully awkward that she just has to basically throw the condoms at him just to see how he will react. Yes, she is remarkably immature for a young mother, but she really does not give a – crap. She cannot curse.

"Please just stop," her big brother begs of her.

"Only if you take all of these with you," she states her demands with a smile.

He takes the condoms quickly, obviously trying to figure out a place to hide them so that Éponine will not find them and think that he is either being extremely presumptuous or that he is actually sure about taking this next step – because she knows that her big brother still has not made up his mind about how he is going to proceed. She knows that he will make the right choice eventually, because he really does love Éponine – only he has yet to completely figure that out for himself. She is trying to give him time for that, while at the same time encouraging him to let go and to go for it. She is not sure if she managed to strike that delicate balance while handing out condoms, but she tried.

"Nice talking to you, big brother," she calls out as he rushes out the room.

Oh, she is going to enjoy making him uncomfortable throughout the entirety of brunch, because it amuses her and because it might make him step up and admit his feelings for Éponine. Really, she just wants her big brother to be happy.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

The brunch that she helped prepare has turned into a picnic rather quickly; seeing as this will probably be one of the last lovely days they have this year. There are no tables and no chairs. Everyone is just sitting on blankets and pillows that have been found in the attic or somewhere else around Natalie and Henry's house. She is currently sitting next to the man of the house, and she has absolutely no idea what to say to him.

She has not gotten to know Henry all that well over the craziness that were the last few days, and since Natalie is currently feeding little Marie, she does not even have the baby to play with to stave off the awkwardness. Her other option is staring at Gabriel's mother who is trying to attract everyone's attention by attempting to perform all kinds of acrobatics – to her son's great embarrassment. The woman will not be swayed though, and she is starting to understand that this is what can happen with someone who has her manic days. Every second brings a new impulse to go with, and she refuses to listen to the opinions around her. It seems terrifying to her.

"Are things always like this around here?" she figures she might as well ask Henry.

"Just about," he answers calmly, as if he is indeed used to this mess. "Usually Gabriel Senior is here to calm her down a bit, since he is the only one who can get through to her when she is – like this. It can be a bit difficult to adjust to."

If these are the happy days – the good days – she wonders how terrible the bad times can get. She does not want to ask, because it is an impertinent question – and also, she is not sure that she even wants to know right now. She was thrown right into the deep end with her Gabriel's family, and it feels like a lot to deal with when she does not even know if she will ever see these people again – 'Jolras might still reject her and leave her behind like the wedding never happened. She is not yet sure of her place in his heart.

On the one hand, he did tell his Dad that he actually has feelings for her, and he told Natalie the same thing, so that would mean that he might love her. On the other hand, he has run hot and cold with her so much lately that she does not know what to think. One moment he is kissing her and making her feel good, and the next moment he is distant and he cannot talk about anything anymore – let alone touch her. He creates both physical and mental distance and she cannot be in a relationship that way. Honestly, she just wants him to choose already – he needs to figure this out!

"It is still more pleasant than my family gatherings," she blurts out.

"I know what you mean," Henry tells her in return. "At least here you can see that they love each other, even though they show it in the oddest ways."

Mother dear is currently trying to outrun her son, and she is surprised to see him actually give chase – and even more surprised that she can tell by the hint of a smile on his face and his relaxed body language that Gabriel is almost enjoying running after his crazy mother. It seems like an old ritual that is repeated for the first time in ten years, and she shakes her head and hopes that one day she will understand.

"How long have you and Natalie been together?" she asks, not knowing what to ask.

"It's been ten years," Henry smiles at her awkward question, and he just goes along with the flow. "Nat and I are high school sweethearts, and high school was a pretty difficult time for the entire family – the meds were not working too well and the Gabriels were almost constantly fighting over school and everything else. Nat and I did some stupid things to get away from our families – but we grew up after your Gabe left."

Oh, while those stupid things sound relatively interesting, she really wants to know about her 'Jolras and his childhood and teenage years. She wants to know about all of his awkward moments and his fights with his dad and she wants to make it all okay again – and maybe then she will be good enough for him and they can be together.

"That must have really hurt Natalie's feelings," she sympathizes.

"Yes, very much so," Henry has no fond memories of that time. "She was left behind, and that is actually when their dad finally realized how left out she had been in the drama between everyone else. So, yeah, it got better after your Gabriel left."

Every single time that Henry calls him her Gabriel she gets those stupid flutters in her stomach and she just wants that to stop. At the same time, she loves that everyone can see that he is sort of hers, which means that there will not be any other girls coming out of nowhere to take him away – not that she thinks he would be interested in anyone else: she herself is more than enough of an exception for him. It is all so messed up.

"You keep calling him my Gabriel," she feels uncomfortable saying this.

"There are two men named Gabriel Enjolras here," Henry tells her, and she really thinks he does not understand what she is trying to get at. "And I know you both say that you are not together, but he is so obviously yours that I cannot say it any other way."

Only he is not hers yet, and she knows that a little too well, because she has spent the last few days worrying if he will ever be hers in any meaningful way. That is not fair to him though, because he has already made such a difference in her life. She is just trying not to get catty about her hurt feelings, and she is not succeeding all too well.

"He will get there eventually, Eponine," he continues to be a surprise.

Henry eyes her knowingly, and she has no idea just what it is about him, but she is trying to figure out just how much she said about her 'Jolras within earshot of him, because he has obviously managed to get a damn accurate picture of their relationship.

"Who are you?" she stammers, because somehow he sees everything.

"I am just Henry Goodman," he shrugs, as if he is nothing special, as if there is nothing to him whatsoever. "I am a pretty decent journalist at a reasonably prestigious newspaper, I have a lovely wife, a beautiful daughter, and my family is a total mess. There is not that much to me, Éponine. I am just alright at observing people."

This man is the calm at the center of the storm. Nothing seems to surprise him, and she does not doubt that he can be crazy when necessary for his wife or his daughter. He just accepts people and observes and listens so well. He reminds her of a mix of Combeferre and Jehan, and she knows that if Henry had not married Gabriel's sister, her 'Jolras actually would have been his friend. She actually rather likes Henry.

"I think you're brilliant," she tells him honestly, a content smile on her face.

"I happen to agree with that," Natalie and Marie join them on their quiet area.

The little baby girl is making pleased sounds as she sees her father, and Henry is quick to lift her into his arms. That makes little Marie even happier, and the girl gurgles, drooling on her father's clean shirt. He shares a fond smile with his wife and continues to play with his daughter. Natalie looks at her little family with love, before they are all distracted again by the running mother and son coming right past them.

"Mom is getting out the baby pictures," Natalie tells her that with a face that is much too happy for someone who is about to be extremely embarrassed. "I am so glad I hid my personal album, but she did bring Gabriel's childhood photos for you to see."

Oh, score! That might be a really childish way to respond to the probable humiliation of the man she loves, but she knows that this might be a whole new way to get to know more about him. His mother is bound to reveal some things, and even if she does not: a picture is worth a thousand words. She will be able to write novels about him after this, and she really cannot wait. She feels like she can barely write a decent brochure about him at this point, and she needs more if she is going to be in a relationship with him.

"You are looking as pleased as I hoped you would," Natalie grins at her.

Somehow the sight of Natalie grinning evilly has managed to stop her 'Jolras in his tracks and made him come over to the two of them. He is desperately making shushing motions to Natalie, and she appears to be trying not to break out in raucous laughter.

"Don't tell her about the things," he is still trying to be cryptic.

"I haven't said a thing about the things," Natalie does the Scout's Honor gesture. "We were just talking about the baby pictures Mom is going to show everyone."

For some reason Gabriel actually becomes more relaxed when he finds out about the embarrassing pictures, which means that the secret Natalie and he share is even worse than old pictures – which means that she will harass him on the way home until he tells her absolutely everything. She has lots of interesting ways to make him talk.

From the corner of her eye, she notices Senior carefully stepping outside – she is beyond happy that the man has been allowed to come home. He has been resting inside for most of the day, but he will be outside with them for the actual brunch part. His wife is almost too caught up in her delightful treat – the worn down photo album in her hands – to notice his arrival, but her 'Jolras points Senior out to his mother, and she smiles.

"There you are, dear Éponine," the mother in question sits down next to her.

"Hello Mrs. Enjolras," she has absolutely no idea how to address this woman.

This is more awkward than she thought it would be, even though Senior is right there and she likes him – and her Gabriel is there too, and she kind of loves him. Natalie is a great person, and she likes Henry and his observing skills – it is only Mrs. Enjolras that she does not really know yet. She is not even sure if she could like her.

"Call me Alice dear," Mrs. E is acting like a perfect suburban mother at this point.

"Just show her the pictures mom," Natalie interrupts, a big grin on her face. "You are going to die laughing. Especially when you see some of his brilliant hairdos."

Her 'Jolras is sitting behind her now, settling one of his legs on each side of her. They are nestled so close together that way that she worries about embarrassing herself in front of his family. She is also once again surprised by a 180 turn – he is pulling another back and forth and she just cannot keep letting herself go along with that. Still, they are in front of his family and he is showing affection and she still loves him.

"I love the curls," she blurts out, letting herself lean into the man behind her.

"Just don't tell me any gory details about that," Natalie teases, because of course there are things she would not want to know about her brother and his girlfriend.

That makes the man behind her huff, and she can feel his huff and his breaths because she is leaning against his chest and he is keeping her close. She experiences his every move up close and she is trying not to notice how good he is smelling and how his breath occasionally tickles the back of her neck – sometimes he does it a few times in a row and she just knows that he is doing it on purpose to get a response out of her.

"Here's our Gabe as a baby," Alice starts showing her the album.

The first picture is indeed of a newborn baby, one with wide blue eyes trying to take in the entire world all at once – and she can still recognize her 'Jolras in that tiny face. The little baby does not have that many curls yet, but it is so obviously him that she has to giggle at it. He sighs again, and the air tickles her neck. She cannot sit still.

"He is adorable," she smiles, and waits for Alice to turn the page.

"Here we have the typical naked baby photos," Natalie knows just what's ahead.

She is pretty hesitant about looking at those, because it feels awkward for a baby photo to be the first time that she actually sees him naked. She hums noncommittally and waits for the next picture to appear, hoping that this did not make him too uncomfortable.

"We're skipping the nudity," her 'Jolras turns the page, and comes even closer to her in the progress. "I don't mind stupid Halloween pictures, but no nudity!"

There is some protest from his mother and his sister, but she pointedly refrains from protesting, so they allow her 'Jolras to move on to a surprisingly weird picture of little Gabriel in his Halloween costume – dressed as a pirate one year, and dressed as what the captions say is "a revolutionary" in a later year. The curls are already wild and untamed and his eyes shine with a passion that she finds admirable.

"Where is that picture from?" she points to her 'Jolras in tights.

"That is from one of the many shows dear Gabriel starred in in high school," Alice is practically beaming with pride. "His friend Ralph got him into that."

Ralph? Ralph? Her dear R is actually named Ralph? That is just too much. She is really trying not to start laughing, but the chuckles get the best of her and her shaking shoulders seem to get Gabriel's attention, because he starts to laugh along with her.

"Ralph?" she manages to sputter in between bursts of laughter.

"Why do you think he makes everyone call him R?" her 'Jolras asks in return.

While she is so busy laughing her Gabriel exhales near the back of her neck again, and a shiver rolls down her spine slowly. She is already a bit off balance when he actually plants a soft kiss near the side of her neck – where it meets her shoulder. She takes a deep breath before he does it again, and her laughter is almost forced now.

"That is too priceless," she is still laughing, though she is startled by his actions.

"And this is Gabriel playing the Captain in the Sound of Music," Alice shows her a lovely shot of a cute teenage Gabriel wearing a swoon-worthy uniform. "I've always thought that he looked so very handsome in that uniform – and I can see you agree with me."

Yes, she does love a handsome man in a uniform. And while the picture of him playing Danny in Grease makes her giggle at the memory of karaoke night – the slicked back curls do not really do it for her. She keeps looking back at the uniform until Alice turns another page and she sees her 'Jolras in another uniform in the picture on the right side, and in the most unforgiving pants known to musical theater in the picture on the left.

Her Gabriel has actually worn those tight white pants – and he wore them well.

"Nice ass," she shifts a bit to whisper those words into his ear.

"Don't objectify me," he replies, and she can actually almost hear his smile.

Their interaction earns them some comments, like "aww" and "how sweet" and so many other cutesy things. She would normally hate every bit of that, but now that she is with her 'Jolras and his family, it seems to be rather pleasant.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

"Give him a break," Natalie tells her as they hug goodbye. "He really is trying. We talked earlier – he came to ask me for advice. We talked about sex. He is getting there."

She is startled to hear that confession, but she tries to pretend that her future sister-in-law said nothing special – yes, she is still going to try to hold on to the silly idea that she and Gabriel might live happily ever after in the end. Gabriel cannot know that Natalie told her any kind of secret, because she suspects that this has something to do with the supremely awkward "things" conversation that they had earlier.

"Thank you," she tells Natalie, unable to specify just one single thing.

"I'll be seeing you," Natalie really seems to believe this. "Even if my big brother is content to be an idiot forever, you should not forget about us. Okay?"

The wink she gets after that statement makes her smile, and she knows that she just might have made a friend for life in Natalie, even though she has messed up several times over the last few days. Henry is smiling as well when they hug – a bit awkwardly, because they have only had the one conversation with just the two of them.

"I am not an idiot," her 'Jolras does hear that part, of course.

"You can be sometimes," Alice tells her son, and immediately turns to face her. "My dear Éponine, you must ask Gabe to bring you for a visit more often!"

While her 'Jolras is left dealing with that slight insult from his mother, Alice steps in for a hug – what is it with the Enjolras family and hugging? She has never been the kind of girl to hug a family member as a goodbye – only dear Gavroche lets her do that from time to time. Azelma does not particularly like physical contact from anyone, and she cannot blame her for that. So this is all very new to her, and that makes it uncomfortable, but also kind of pleasant at the same time. She will learn to get better at this.

"I can see if my wiles still work on him," she immediately goes back to teasing her 'Jolras when she is let out of that big hug. "So far it has worked pretty well."

This has managed to make Senior laugh as well, and she is extra gentle when giving the old man a hug too – he looks better now than he did in that hospital bed. Senior does not let her treat him as if he is a frail old man, because he gives her a strong hug that makes her smile – he just as stubborn as his son, which definitely explains a lot.

"Say bye to uncle Gabe and auntie Éponine, Marie," Natalie fans the flames again.

She is nobody's aunt, but she values the sentiment, and she appreciates that it brings the blush back to her Gabriel's face. Everyone around him knows that something is going to happen between the two of them, if only he would just give in already.

"Okay, that's enough," Henry gently admonishes his wife. "We don't want to ruin this."

Her 'Jolras is already getting in the car, and she is left smiling at his family and wanting to tell them just how much their open arms have meant to her, but not being able to find the right words to say just that. So she just smiles at all of them one more time, gives a cute wave to little Marie, and then she gets in the car next to the most confusing man she knows. They will be locked in a moving car together for the next three or four hours, and that will give her plenty of time to get some answers to her questions.

"I will see you back here for Thanksgiving," Alice orders them, almost bouncing in place.

"I will try," her 'Jolras says, before starting the engine and drowning out his family's pleas for the two of them to come back soon. "Goodbye!"

With that, he unceremoniously drives off, and she has to bite back a laugh – she knows that he is trying to avoid any awkward questions or comments, and she also knows that is not going to work out too well for him. She is not going to forget her questions that easily, and she still does not know what the mysterious things are. She is going to find out everything if it is the last thing she does – he should be warned about this, really, but she likes it more when he is surprised and flustered. He is much more likely to give her all of the answers that way. As long as he doesn't crash the car, they will be just fine.

"Question time," she tells him before they have even left town.

"I should have known," he replies, now looking more resigned than scared.

He is still maneuvering through traffic with remarkable ease, so she figures that they are not in any particular danger of him accidentally crashing the car and killing them both.

"You talked about sex with Natalie," she figures she has to get the sex issue out of the way before they can make any kind of progress – and since there are still four hours left, she knows the topic will not have to be cut short. "So, since you have told me that you are celibate, I am curious to find out what was discussed in this conversation."

In her own opinion, she has every right to hear his thoughts about his celibacy and if he is going to continue not pursuing her sexually. She would jump on him the minute he said that he wanted to and was ready to have sex with her – no lies.

"She told you that, didn't she?" he still has to ask the obvious question.

"No details, just that you talked about sex," she promises, quickly taking a peek at him.

Yes, he does look distinctly uncomfortable talking about sex, but if they even have the slightest chance of building a real relationship together they are going to have to have this talk eventually. So she is just going to steamroll right over any objections he might have to the topic and get her damn answers. Honestly, sometimes she is so turned on by him that she has trouble stifling moans and she is damn well going to find out if he feels the same and if he wants to do something to relieve that sweet, sweet ache.

"That much is true," he continues to be spectacularly evasive on this topic.

"Do I really have to drag it out of you?" she is not happy about that idea. "I have my tricks and I can probably make you tell me everything if I want to. I just want you to tell me of your own volition. I'm tired of feeling like I'm the only one who wants this."

The hurt from his several 180s has not gone away, and if he does not change his actions pretty soon, she knows that she will be hurting over this for a long time. If he does not want her this way, she will probably still be the best friend that he could ever want, but she might have to seek out other avenues of satisfaction. If there was absolutely no way that he would want her, she would have been happy with her hand and some toy – but he has shown so many signs of wanting her that she is confused about the reasons he could have for not asking for more than kisses. She is just so confused and (sexually) frustrated and she wants some damn answers, and she wants them now.

"Fuck, 'Ponine," he raises his voice and she tries to shake off the fog that came over her brain when he said those words in one sentence. "Don't ever think that this is not hard for me too. I want you pretty much all of the time and that is terrifying!"

And with that outburst they are finally getting to the root of the problem. He does not know this kind of feelings, never having felt this way before, and he is probably terrified at the intensity of them and at their frequency. Lord knows that she is occasionally freaked out about how intense her feelings of lust – and occasionally love – are for him, and so quickly after she gave up on her feelings for Marius.

"You could have just said that sooner, you know," she fondly rolls her eyes at him.

"I am still figuring this out," he tells her in response, his hands white from holding on tightly to the steering wheel. "I am not even sure that I am ready, and I am not sure that I want to give up on celibacy – I am not sure I want to change my life completely. That is what would happen if we did give in to these feelings. Everything would change!"

Okay, so he is planning on this being life-changing sex, and she can totally get on board with that. She is totally ready to make this life-changing for him, and she has no doubt that he will try to make it as life-changing as possible for her as well. Still, this is all in hypotheticals if he cannot figure out if he really wants to proceed with this.

"I am scared too," she blurts it out before she can second-guess herself.

"Why would you be scared?" he does not seem to understand that. "You have been in a relationship before. You have done this before. Why would it still be scary?"

Oh, sometimes she forgets that he is inexperienced and that he does not know the effect that unrequited feelings, lost love, or bad endings to a relationship can have. He might think that he knows if from having seen it, but he has never been there himself. But she can make him understand that, if she is just honest with him, no matter how absolutely terrifying she finds that. Everything about this is scary and terrifying and awkward, but it is the only way that they will be able to figure this out together.

"I am scared because I have feelings for you," she figures that she might as well go all out and admit everything. "I just got over my stupid feelings for Marius, and my last and only boyfriend turned out to be a violent asshole who almost killed me. I'm terrified that I will hurt you or drag you down with me somehow. I don't want to hurt you or be the reason that you give up on love or sex forever. Fuck. I need to stop talking."

They have reached the highway and he puts the pedal to the metal – he is not going over the speed limit, of course, but he does like to go fast, at least when he is driving.

"So we are both not sure where to go," he summarizes.

"What now?" she asks, wanting to let him call the shots at this point.

She is the one willing to go forward with this regardless of her fears, but she is also going to let him make the decisions, since he is the one with serious doubts. She would never want to push him into something like this without being sure about his actions, and if he needs more time for that her libido is just going to have to deal.

"Ask your questions," he speaks calmly, and she is pretty darn surprised by that.

"So, you do have feelings for me?" she knows that she is asking a pretty stupid question, because he has mentioned this before – but she has to know.

"Yes, I do," he answers her question honestly. "And before you ask the typical follow-up question: yes, these feelings are feelings of love and lust. I think I am in love with you, and of course I am attracted to you. I guess you already knew that last part."

It is so nice to hear it straight from him and right to her face instead of him telling it to his family. Now they both know, and that will make things easier for them.

Oh, honestly, while she can try all she wants to make this just another casual thing that he says, she still has all of the silly aftereffects of his statement. Her heart is racing like she has been on a long run instead of sitting still in a car, and the butterflies in her stomach are keen on making their presence very much known to her. He does love her, he really does! The smile on her face might approach coat hanger in the mouth proportions at this point, but she is simply too happy to give a shit about that. Why would she give a shit about anything else now that she knows that he loves her?

"He loves me," she mutters it under her breath, trying not to let him know.

Sure, their problems are not entirely solved by this. But it still means everything.

"Now, what do we do about this?" she asks the all-important question.

She is vibrating in her seat and she is willing him not to notice, but the way he keeps looking her way from the corner of his eyes and trying to hide chuckles, that tells her that her subterfuge skills might not be as good as they used to be.

They share a quick and shy smile, ready to move forward.

"I'd suggest we take it one step at a time," he shrugs, seemingly not having a clear answer ready for her. "But I know that's what we've been doing, and I haven't always been too good at taking steps away from what I've always known."

Yes, he is indeed a big fan of staying in his comfort zone, but he has also already taken several steps away from this comfort zone. He has held her and touched her and he has actually fallen in love with her – she never would have been able to imagine anything like this happening when she asked him to come to Marius' wedding with her.

"Can we try for more?" she has to ask, hoping he will understand what she means.

"I asked Natalie for condoms," he does seem to understand just what she means, but this confession definitely surprises her. "She insisted on embarrassing me for a while, but she eventually gave them. Should I have said that? I don't know. I just – I just want you to understand that I am trying, and that we should try. Just, I want to be ready."

Now she worries that he might try to hard to make things okay for her, and she would never want him to do anything like that. She wants him to be ready, but she would not want him to force it. Ugh, her thoughts are a mess on this whole topic.

"Please don't force it," she pleads with him, wanting to make this thing perfect.

"You can count on me to say what I think," he is now actually teasing her.

He does have a good point about that, because he has never been the type of guy who would hide his opinion about anything. He would tell her very openly if he thought that something was wrong, odd, or otherwise unpleasantly different than before. He would not just agree with her to keep her complacent – that is actually one of the things that she just might love the most about him. He fights for what he cares about, and he is not going to be shushed by other people's opinions on the subject.

She knows that he would fight for her, if he were so inclined.

"I am still going to be around even if we fuck up the relationship part," she suddenly understands that this is something that he needs to hear. "I was your friend before I figured out that I wanted to be in a relationship with you, and I can go back if you want us to just be friends, so you can live the life you lived before."

Knowing her, she will probably fuck this and him up beyond belief, and after that he will not even want to be her friend anymore. But she has absolutely no doubt that she will always want to be near him – for the rest of her natural-born life. She loves being his friend and his partner in crime, and while she would prefer to be more than his friend, she could be content with being a best friend to him. That could work.

"It will not be like it was before," he too has a point he wants to make known. "Once I know what a relationship is like, what sex is like – I am not sure I will want to go back to before. And I can't be like my mother, taking and not being able to give."

So he is saying that being celibate only worked for him because he did not know what sex was like? He is seriously underestimating his own powers of compartmentalization and his strength of mind. He can do anything he wants to do, if he just puts his mind to it – and that would work on sex and love as well as anything else.

Still, the part that gives her the most cause for concern is his mistaken idea that all he does is take and take and take – when he is honestly one of the most giving people that she has ever met. She is not even sure what she would have done without him.

"You give plenty," she smiles at him, placing her hand on his thigh.

"But I walked away so many times," he sputters, trying to hold true to these ridiculous thoughts. "I walked away from you at the hospital, when you almost died!"

Really? He saved her life and still he feels guilty for leaving her in the capable hands of the doctors and not sitting at her bedside until she woke up? He gave her Marius sitting at her bedside instead, and finding him there instead of her best friend would only have made her very hostile towards him – she really disliked him back then, and she might have done something stupid to thank him for saving her life.

"Gabriel," she says, trying to pour out all of her feelings for him in that one word. "You saved my life that night! I don't mind that you did not stick around for whatever reason you had. I woke up and Marius was there and that is all I wanted back then."

She was so stupid back then, only wanting her Marius and not seeing anyone else around her. The Amis were distant friends, but they were so nice to her after she broke up with Montparnasse – even if they did not know the real reason behind it. Her 'Jolras would look at her scar with a paling face and clenched hands. She never made the connection to him being her savior – she just figured he had a different reason to see her wounds and for him to be terrified of them. She did not know him at all.

"I was scared," he tells her, hands clenched on the steering wheel.

"That's okay," she tells him, because she knows plenty about fear and hospitals.

There have been so many times that she was scared to be caught out and taken into foster care away from her siblings – but she still had to go to the hospital with them because broken bones do not heal easily without professional help. She knows fear too well, and while she knows his will be different, she is trying to understand.

"When I was ten or eleven years old," he starts a story that she has never heard before, and one that will undoubtedly be painful. "My mother went through a really bad depression. She tried to kill herself one night with my father's razor. Nat and I found her on the bathroom floor, bleeding out. It took ages for the ambulance to come, and she was in the hospital for such a long time that I was scared she wouldn't come back."

Well, she certainly was not expecting that. She has to wrench his right hand from the steering wheel so that she will be able to take it in hers, because he will not respond to calming words – he needs to feel that she is there for him, to support him.

"I was scared for you," he continues, choking back the feelings.

"I am still here, and so is your mom," she reminds him of that, squeezing his hand. "I am going to be here for as long as I possibly can. We'll be okay, Enj."

He worries so much that he cannot love the right way, when he is the one saving almost strangers from their evil boyfriends and making sure that the person they love is right there at their bedside. She is going to spend the rest of her life making sure that he knows just how amazing he is and how much he means to her, and she is surprisingly okay with that idea. She could see herself doing that for the rest of her life.

It is a terrifying but wonderful idea.

AN: As always, leave your favorite parts/lines/moments/etc. in your comment/review/message. I love you all!


	19. Chapter Eighteen

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: This is the last real chapter, and I still don't own a thing.

AN: Hold on to your hats.

Warning: minor smut ahead. Nothing like my stuff on Tumblr, but there is a sex scene.

Chapter eighteen: Like Heaven Above

His couch is still as amazing as she remembers it, and she moves around a few times to get as comfortable as she can. Her call to Javert to tell him that she would be back at work on Monday went over pretty well. While the man has a very gruff exterior, she is always surprised at his sense of humor and the softness he usually hides.

"My boss has been notified," she tells her 'Jolras triumphantly as he returns from his brief exile into his room to unpack his stuff. "He is very nice about the whole thing."

Sometimes she wonders why Javert treats her so kindly, but then she remembers that one conversation that gave hints of him having a childhood that was very similar to hers – so he understands that her siblings mean everything to her and that she needed this week off to deal with her 'Jolras and her new family. They are her family now too.

"Do you need me to take you home?" he asks her then, and she feels hurt.

She knows that she is not wanted here – only, wait, he did not actually say that. She should really learn to stop putting words in his mouth and use her own instead.

"Do you want me to go?" she asks, scared at how much vulnerability she is showing.

"I want you to stay," he shows his vulnerable side as well, sitting down next to her on the couch of awesomeness. "I would love it if you would stay. With me. Tonight."

Somehow she gets that when he is asking her to stay the night with him, she can be sure that there will be more things happening between the two of them than just sleeping in the same bed. And she is completely okay with that, but she is a bit worried about him actually being ready for something like that. Still, she trusts him and she trusts that he will tell her if something is wrong or if he is not ready for something after all.

"I will take you up on that offer," she smiles at him, scooting a bit closer.

"Do you want to watch a movie first?" he asks, because it is only about eight o'clock and she is not yet tired – or ready for anything. "We have all night."

The comment is a bit ludicrous coming from him, and when their eyes meet, they both start laughing at how awkward and stupid they are making it all. They are basically in a relationship, and things should not be this complicated or this awkward.

"Only if I can officially call you mine," she counters his offer with a demand of her own, one that needs to be met for the two of them to proceed. "You can call me yours too."

That demand is followed by a lengthy silence, making her pretty scared that she has moved too fast for his comfort and that she has now ruined their nice night. But when she sees that he looks pensive rather than uncomfortable or disgusted, she is reassured that this will not be the reason why they cannot have nice things.

"I'd like that," he finally says, sounding pretty relieved.

"That was not too painful, was it?" she teases him, planting a quick kiss on his lips.

He barely responds to that kiss because he is too busy faking a terrifying glare for her benefit. They are both laughing as they break apart, because kissing him while he is making an exaggerated face is just really very odd. His mouth is not doing what his mouth is supposed to be doing, and all that she can do is giggle.

"That was weird," he says, trying to look serious, but failing.

"Your face is weird," she childishly responds, snuggling closer to him.

That seems to confuse him a bit at first, until he recognizes that it is one of those stupid jokes that he will not find nearly as funny as she finds it. The your face thing was a huge deal when she was in middle school and bullying was normal and casual and everything was replied to starting with 'your face'. She does not miss those days, but she does like to crack a silly joke in front of him to find out if he even knows it.

"You love this face," he teases her, lifting her chin with one finger.

"Maybe a little," she studies the face in question a bit more closely.

She traces the shapes and lines of his face with her fingers, as if she is trying to map out all of the mysteries that he still holds for her. Her fingers walk the path from his forehead to his ears to his nose, his mouth, and those adorable lines that he has – she has no idea why his nasolabial folds are so interesting, but it works for him. She traces his lips again, and when he kisses her fingers, she tries not to blush. It does not work.

"I love your face too," he tells her. "Not just your face, though."

Her vanity wants him to ask what else he loves about her, but the color red that is showing on his face tells her not to push him at this point. He seems almost embarrassed to have blurted out something like that, even though she considers it to be very romantic of him to say it. She smiles at him and keeps her mouth shut, letting him take the lead.

"We were going to watch a movie," he says, trying to distract them both.

"We could try Casablanca again," she starts, knowing she could tease him a bit more and hopefully make him respond in a lovely way, "but I doubt we will see any more of the movie this time around. I tend to get a bit distracted. I blame the couch."

Actually, she blames him and his face and his everything, but she is not going to say that because he would not take it the right way, and it would probably reveal way too much about the depth of her feelings for him – she does not want to scare him off. She is so scared of spooking him and doing something that he is not ready for that she is going to let him call all of the shots for a little while. Once they are a little bit more secure in this relationship she can fight him for control again – and he will enjoy it very much.

"I blame you," her 'Jolras surprises her yet again.

His response is not finished yet, though, because he leans in to her and plants a kiss on her lips that is so soft that she wonders if it actually happened. She pouts at him, wanting him to make the next move, trying to keep his attention on her lips. His eyes are indeed staring at her lips, and she can see hints of his tongue as he licks his own lips.

She wants him so fucking bad – but it's still his move.

"I am not even doing anything," she teases, his eyes still on her lips.

"That innocent act does not work on me," he smiles, moving ever closer to her.

They are basically only inches apart, and then he stops moving closer and stays completely still, frustrating her immensely because she is still waiting for him to make that crucial first move. Her heart is racing at the closeness, and now she is the one licking her lips in anticipation. Her stomach flutters, and still he does nothing. She tries to look him in the eyes, but they are too close for her to do so without getting seriously cross-eyed. She cannot guess his mood, and she cannot make a move.

"Just kiss me already," she is getting terribly impatient.

Still, he does not move an inch. She knows he is testing her in some stupid way, so she follows his lead and stays still, waiting for him to explain the rules.

"Say please," his voice is deeper than it was before.

"Please," she breathes as his fingers softly bring their faces together.

Finally her lips touch his in a proper kiss. He even dares to nibble on her lower lip a little, making her gasp and giving him entry into her mouth. His tongue has gotten more and more skilled since they started kissing each other all those weeks ago, and his kisses now make her weak in the knees. Her temperature is climbing and her skin is so sensitive already that she lets out a soft moan when his fingers find the nape of her neck and these nimble fingers caress her softly. Oh, please, 'Jolras!

"Gabriel," she pleads as they break apart.

He creates a bit more distance between the two of them, but she is no longer having any of that nonsense, so when she lays down to make herself more comfortable on the couch of awesomeness, she pulls him along with her so that he is now comfortably situated on top of her – their bodies touching from shoulder to thigh, at least.

"Hi," he stammers a bit awkwardly, trying to pull himself up.

"You are not crushing me," she tells him, hoping to make him stay put. "Please stay."

There is a moment where he hesitates, and her shallow breaths get faster and faster until he lowers himself back to his previous position. She tries to breathe more normally, but he is practically surrounding her – the scent and the feel of him are everywhere around her until she is covered in him. She never wants to move ever again.

"Are you sure this is okay?" he asks her, worrying about her like a big doofus.

"Is it okay for you?" she asks him instead of answering outright. "I like it very much."

Judging by the breaths she feels tickling near her face, he is having just as much trouble breathing steadily as she is. So, now that she knows this, she is going to make this even more of a challenge for him – by moving her hands under his red shirt, and placing them on his smooth and warm skin. She can feel his back muscles rippling under her hands before she feels him tense – everywhere. Her breathing is even more labored now.

"Ponine," he manages to stammer out her name.

She runs her hands up and down his back again, and when she starts using her nails, he slams his hips against hers, sending a lightning bolt of lust everywhere in her body.

"Oh," is the only verbal response she has to that.

The grin she sees on his face after that, while beautiful is not the thing that she actually notices the most. She can see that his eyes are darker than they were before – because his pupils are bigger, and she can feel that he is as turned on by this as she is.

"Fuck it," he breathes before kissing her again.

This time he is using his arms to press her as close to his body as she possibly can be – she doubts that there would be room for air to pass between the two of them. She tries to push herself up against him while he pushes down. He leans a little too much to the left though in trying to make her more comfortable, leaving the both of them to crash onto the floor. She is now on top, and he has gotten the breath knocked out of him.

"Are you okay?" is the first thing he asks when he is okay to speak.

"I had a pretty cushy landing," she teases, planting soft kisses on his jaw to try and heal whatever pain the fall from the couch of awesomeness might have caused him. "Are you okay? Do I need to kiss anything better for you? I mean, anything."

Her way to make sure that he understands that she does in fact mean anything is to run her hands down his chest and to make her destination clear before she even reaches it – his eyes widen as he finally seems to understand just what she means by anything. It really could be absolutely anything, and he appears to be tempted.

"You, I, anything," he stammers, and she knows his face has turned red again.

"Only if you want," she tries to put him at ease at least a little bit.

So, he might be a bit distracted from answering her by the fact that her hands are mighty close to the zipper on his pants – and mighty close to the erection tenting those same pants. She really cannot blame him for being distracted by it, but she has to look closely at him to notice that it is not just her closeness that is making him stammer so. He is freaking out about this, and she might have to give him a bit more space.

"I'm, maybe, I," he still is not able to form a sentence.

"We will see where things go," she smiles at him before nipping at his jaw a bit.

He lets out a soft groan and his hips rock against hers again as soon as she moves to his neck – so that is one of the sensitive areas that she has to pay attention to. She makes a mental note of that before repositioning herself a bit more so that she is actually straddling him on his living room floor. She has no objections to that position.

"I think things are going to the bedroom," he says, and she is stunned by that. "The floor is not as comfortable as it looks, and I'm not looking forward to falling off the couch again. So maybe we should get comfortable and see what happens."

She tries to climb off him gracefully, but she also has to sneak a very quick ass grab in there, because she is finally getting another chance for that. He pretends to be outraged at it, but the mirth sparkling in his eyes tells her a completely different story. Especially when he follows up his fake outrage with a pouty lip and a wordless demand for her to help him up off the floor. And he tries to get a good look at her breasts.

"Shall we?" she tries to create an alluring pose.

Her attempt is made foolish by her clothes being askew and the fact that she is only wearing the one shoe – she almost fell on her face and hoped he did not notice. She kicks off her remaining shoe and turns in the direction of his bedroom. This time, she will not find him apathetic in a corner, so she shoots him a sassy wink over her shoulder and hopes that he will follow her into the room where everything is going to change, if only they were ready for that. If only he would be ready for that – she still doubts it.

"Come on, big boy," she calls out over that same shoulder.

"Which movie are you trying to play out here?" he asks, following her into his bedroom.

The big bed has been made up perfectly, and she suspects that some of the time he claimed to have spent unpacking his suitcase has been spent trying to make this room look as perfect as it possibly can. She loves him a little bit more for that.

"Not one movie in particular," she sits down on the bed. "I'm trying to set the mood."

With the way he is looking at her, she would not be surprised if her clothes disappeared just because of the power of his gaze. So, to encourage him even further, she climbs further onto the bed, settling against the pillows and beckoning him with the crook of her finger, and hoping that he will come to her. She waits for him.

He follows her suggestion rather easily, climbing on the bed – doing that panther crawl move that she thought only famous actors could actually pull off without looking like complete idiots. Of course her 'Jolras can pull it off as well, and he makes it look very good as he crawls over her body so that his lips can meet hers again – and so that his body can press hers into the very lovely mattress. She pulls him closer again.

"The mood has been set," he is out of breath when they break apart.

That makes her giggle, but her laughter is over quickly – his mouth is over hers again and she can do nothing but slowly roll her hips against his and respond to yet another perfect kiss. Her stomach continues to flutter every single time he kisses her, and this time is no exception. The fluttering even continues when he moves his mouth to her jaw, and then to her neck and collarbone. There will be hickeys – she is proud of that.

His shirt is getting in the way of properly showing affection for him, so she yanks at the bottom, pulling it up until he gets the hint and he takes it off himself. She grins at the sight of his bare chest, because it is unexplored territory and she likes that she will be the only one to ever explore him like this. She can map the hills and valleys of his chest, his stomach and everywhere else that she wants to explore – because he is letting her.

"Equal opportunity stripping," he teases, pulling her shirt off in return.

She likes that he is starting to get more comfortable with himself, and that he is now letting his hands roam over her bra, playing with the straps and providing some lovely friction between her breasts and the material covering them. His hesitant explorations are distracting her from her own journey of his body, and the feelings are overwhelming her a little – and she likes it that way. Her body curves up into his before she can think about it too much, pushing her breasts closer to his face to get his attention.

"Please," she finds herself pleading with him again.

He freezes suddenly, fingers just millimeters from the clasp on her bra. She moves her body those few millimeters, letting him rest his long fingers on the clasp – hoping that he will take that as her permission and actually unhook the clasp.

Nothing happens though; he does not move a single muscle. So she simply has to undo the clasp herself, which is a trick she knows all too well – it does not take much effort if she does it right. A quick tug and the bra clasp is loose. She is left holding his hand to her now naked back and waiting for him to respond like he did before.

"I can't," he finally talks again.

His body is now separated from hers, as he lays down on his back next to her, and she has to debate if she just wants to put her shirt on and go to sleep. She turns to her side to face him, her bra almost falling off her and hopes that he will change his mind.

"What's wrong?" she asks him, trying to paint a tempting picture.

"I, I do not think I am ready for this right now," he speaks softly but strongly.

She feels her body trying to get rid of the excess excitement. There is no longer any kind of possibility for the two of them to proceed at this moment. If he says that he is not ready – and she believes that he is telling the truth about that – than she is going to stick to her word and give him space. She smiles at him before turning away.

"I am borrowing your shirt," she tells him, picking up his shirt instead of hers.

"I need to shower," he mutters, sitting up and getting off the bed quickly.

There is no real response to her shirt issue, so she pulls his shirt over her head – it is still warm from the heat of his body – and she drops her bra on the floor. He barely seems to notice what she is doing, busy as he is with trying to escape from this situation.

"Make it a cold one," she shouts out after his retreating back.

The door closes behind him and she wonders if they will ever get it right.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e

Her eyes flutter open slowly when she feels him on top of her – her heart already racing at his closeness and her skin tight and hot.

Then he moves to kiss her neck, gently applying a bit of suction and nibbling at her soft skin, and it is so exciting and shows that he wants her. His mouth is hot on her skin and his lips are soft as they leave their brand on her skin – a brand that she will treasure and show off to everyone. Because that brand means he loves her enough to discard any thoughts of celibacy, and it means that he has lust as well as love for her.

It is not until his hands move to massage her breasts through his surprisingly comfortable shirt that she realizes that they might actually go through with this. He is actually on top of her, touching her and gently biting the skin near her collarbone – she is not dreaming and the thought of that is positively glorious.

"Gabe," she mutters, trying to shake herself into reality. "Gabe. Are you sure? Are you ready? Please tell me you're ready. Fuck!"

He is smiling down at her, nodding briefly before lowering his head and meeting her in a kiss. He is taking control, teasing her with his tongue and then making the kiss lighter when she tries to respond. He is so good at the teasing that she is writhing underneath him very quickly, pushing her hips into his and hoping he will just move and make her feel even better. The clothes she is wearing are too warm.

Her shirt is starting to soak with perspiration and she is just waiting for him to take it off already. She is so hot and her skin is tightening and the lightning bolts of lust running through her body are close to setting her on fire from the inside out.

When he does not appear to be getting the hint, and he merely touches her over the shirt again, she figures that she might as well take it off herself. She places her hands on the hem, ready to yank it off over her head when he stops her – and she worries that they have once again gone too far and that he is going to stop. She cannot handle this.

Then he is taking off the shirt – his shirt, the one that she is wearing – and they are both naked from the waist up. His eyes seem wider as he gets his first real look at her breasts, and when he seems scared to get closer, she puts his hands on them, hoping that he will get that hint and proceed to get her ever closer to that oh-so-tempting edge. So far, his only response is to make a spooked noise and to not move a single muscle.

His hands are still covering her breasts, and the slight weight is nice – but she is still hoping that he will eventually move. And then there is a reflexive twitch of his fingers right over her nipple and she feels it pebbling from his touch.

He gasps in surprise over that response, and like the curious guy he is, he tries it again, this time on both breasts. The heat that follows is so lovely that she presses herself into his hands, trying not to get so distracted that she loses her mind and goes too far.

"Oh," she breathes as he lowers his mouth to her chest.

Once again, he is surprisingly good at what he does, and the heat that is building inside of her distracts her from anything going on other than what he is doing. His warm breath is on her skin, alternating with hot kisses everywhere. She is too hot, so she kicks her pajama pants off herself and then brings her hands to the drawstring on his sweatpants and waits for him to get used to the feeling of her hands there.

And then she unties the string and pulls down the pants, taking advantage of the opportunity to get her hands on his ass for a little while. He has a great ass, and when she pulls his pants down over it she cops a little feel, making him smile.

He kicks off his pants, and now they are in front of each other with nothing on except for underwear. She is still stunned that he is not putting a stop to this, but she is not going to look that gift horse in the mouth. If there are any mouths involved, she would prefer for it to be his mouth, so she leans in once again and softly kisses him, trying to entice him to shed the final piece of clothing on his body. She lets him regain dominance over their kiss and she holds his ass to push their hips closer and closer together.

This is what all of the kids in high school call dry humping.

His hand comes in to play with the edges of her panties, going to explore previously hidden territory. Her breaths are ragged and her heart is pounding in her chest, because this just might be the day that it finally happens for them.

She finally decides to just yank her own panties of, and he quickly pushes down his boxers as well before his fingers go on another exploration and the heat continues to rise in her, and the lightning bolts of lust are threatening to liquefy her. Everything is heat and sex and love and she has never loved him more.

He turns out to be particularly good at teasing her, leaving her on the brink of ecstasy and then leaving her hanging for a little while. She sends him angry looks when he does it for the third time, and he goes to grab something from his bedside drawer. When she sees the familiar package in his hand, she smiles and grabs it – knowing that she is the most experienced at this. She does not want this thing to break.

"Are you sure?" she asks him when she opens the package.

"I'm ready," he tells her, quickly kissing her before she can respond.

So this will happen, and the thoughts of wonder are in the back of her mind as she slowly rolls the condom down his hard shaft. He moans at her touch, and she feels strong and desirable and she loves him.

Fuck! His magical fingers have found their new favorite spot again and she might be getting a bit distracted from whatever she was doing before. At least the condom is on.

He is on top of her again, and the heat from his hardness is so near to where it is supposed to be that she almost cannot take it. She just wants him to get inside her already, but once again she has to wait for him to make the first move.

"Please," she knows that her pleading is somewhat of a trigger for him.

She is proven right when he gently guides himself inside of her, as she slowly tries to accommodate him – it has been a long while for her, but it has been even longer for him, as he is just now losing his virginity. When he is fully inside her, he has trouble keeping his breathing steady, burying his face in her neck to try and regain control of himself.

The heavy breathing is still audible near to her ear, but she wants more of him right now, so she gently starts moving her hips, and that is making him gasp. He holds his hands on her hips, trying to make her stop moving, but she gently pushes his hands away, putting her hands on his hips instead to show him a rhythm that works for her. He has already found the angle that she likes, so now he just has to get that just like dancing, there is a rhythm in making love as well. Slow, but steady to start, and then faster and faster until they both lose their breath and tip over the edge into bliss.

Ah yes, he appears to get it, so instead of her hands on his hips, she can now wrap her legs around his waist and move along with him in almost perfect synch. They just keep getting better at this, but his movements get more erratic when she digs her nails into his back – he is hitting all of the good spots with every thrust.

"Fuck," he breathes on his very last thrust before he breaks apart.

She is not quite there yet, but that is perfectly okay. It is a first time, and it was silly of her to think that it would be perfect. She loves him and she has never been so close to him as she is now – that is enough for the moment.

"Did you?" he stammers as he tries to recover.

"It's fine," she reassures him, gently running her hands up and down his back.

A slow shiver rolls down her spine when he slowly pulls out of her – she would have been alright with keeping him inside of her for a longer time. She just wants to be close to him, and now that he is off her and taking off the condom, it feels like the distance between the two of them is back. She does not even care about her own orgasm.

But apparently he really does, because as soon as he has gotten rid of the condom, he brings those magic fingers out to play again. And his tongue is on her chest and moving down, and down, and down, and oh my God what is he doing?

Oh, she knows what he is doing, but she was in no way expecting this from him!

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Shit! Oh my – fuck!

"Gabe," she calls out as she finally tips over the edge.

When she comes back to earth, he is placing soft kisses all over her face. She is too busy wondering what the hell just happened to really think about where his mouth has been.

"Where did you even learn that?" she asks, still breathing heavy.

"I did research," he blushes as he gives that answer.

It is hilarious that he can still be so bashful when he had his tongue on her clit just minutes before. She smiles at him and cuddles into his side, not even caring about sweat and other bodily fluids at this point. She loves him, and they just made love.

"I think we're going to use that research a lot," she sits up against the headboard.

Shit, if this is how good he is the first time, they are going to have a bloody spectacular sex life – and that idea makes her very happy. They can make it together, especially now that they have shared something this special – for Pete's sake, she is the only person who has ever been this close to him. She is his one and only at this point.

"Was I good?" he asks, sounding so terribly unsure.

"I think the orgasm gave it away," she smirks proudly. "Yes, you were good."

There is a beatific smile on his face after she tells him that, and he leans in to quickly kiss her on the lips. Only what was meant to be a quick kiss turns into a brief interlude that turns into a prelude to something much more than a quick kiss.

"You are aiming for round two," she notices.

"Well, I did get several more condoms," he tries to sound casual.

She laughs, and he follows with a chuckle that grows into real laughter. Oh yes, they are going to make it through.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

When she wakes up the next morning, she is still very much naked and her Gabe is still in the bed beside her – also naked. Oh yes, their marathon sex was not a dream, and there are still at least three condoms in his bathroom wastebasket.

"Score," she mutters under her breath.

It is easy to snuggle into his side and hope that her actions and her words will not make him wake up – she does not want him to be awake just yet, because she knows that everything will change the minute he wakes up and realizes what has happened. He might do another 180 out of fear and confusion, and she is terrified that he might think that this night has been a mistake. That would ruin everything.

She is even more in love with him than she has ever been before, and it just might kill her if he changes his mind again. She loves him, and she is ready to be all-in in this relationship, and she just wants to be sure that he is still okay with everything now that his celibacy has been thrice denied – at least – in one night.

"Hey you," her Gabe is apparently already awake. "How are you feeling?"

His curls are messily spread out on the pillow, and she now finds his messy hair even more adorable than she did before – and she thought a limit had been reached with how intense her feelings for him could get. His eyes are bleary and only half-open, and his fingers are slowly running up and down her arm in a gesture that is both comforting and arousing. Every single time he touches her she remembers their night of passion.

"Sore as fuck," she tells him in response, stretching languidly.

"I'm sorry," he immediately apologizes, and he now looks seriously worried about her.

Every single move she makes is a reminder of the things she did last night, and because she never wants to forget this night, she is perfectly happy having the reminders in her muscles and branded on her skin. She has hickeys in places she has never had hickeys before, and she knows that she will be wearing a secretive Mona Lisa smile for days and weeks to come – because the man she loves is great in bed and they love each other.

"This is not a bad thing," she relishes in the feeling.

Another stretch on her side makes the covers drop from both of them, and she has to eye him up a bit more, even though she has touched and/or licked just about every inch of his body. He has his fair share of hickeys too – she certainly made sure of that.

This was a night she never wants to forget.

"Are you okay with this?" she has to ask him, because he was the one with doubts.

"Things have changed," he muses, and she wants to smack him for delaying the moment of truth yet again. "But I find that I don't have regrets. I felt very close to you."

Her breathing comes easier now, and she smiles at him, hoping that he will see it even though the angle is a bit off. They are now lying next to each other, both looking at the ceiling to keep from looking each other in the eye and revealing too much.

"You were not ready before," she has to bring this up, even though she just wants things to be happy between the two of them. "What changed between yesterday evening and the moment you woke me up in the middle of the night?"

That was a question he was not expecting from her, but she still has to ask it to make sure that he does not do another 180 because he was not ready after all. She just hopes that he really is sure about this relationship, and that he was sure of everything before he woke her up to make love. He has to be sure – because changing his mind now would be a really asshole move to make. He has already put celibacy behind him, she just wants him to be happy with that decision, and she wants to move on with him.

"I'm not sure I can explain it," he blushes and turns his face away.

"Well, try," she is getting frustrated with his hesitance. "You woke me up in the middle of the night, for sex, when just hours before you stopped us from doing it."

It was a completely abrupt change of heart for her – because she was asleep when this magical moment happened. She went from feeling rejected by him to waking up with his hands and mouth on her skin, and there was barely any time to adjust to the change.

"I don't want to sound like a creep," he starts, and now she is really curious about what he will say next. "But I watched you sleep. Now, it was just because I couldn't sleep. I was too busy thinking about why I stopped things before. And I realized that I don't know. I do care about you. I have feelings for you. And all the celibate thoughts in the world cannot stop me from being in love with you. I love you, Éponine."

If she was not actually in bed with him in this second, she might be doing a happy dance right at this very moment. Still, even though she is in bed with him, she briefly hugs herself before she dives on top of him, planting kisses all over his face and neck and shoulders – anywhere that she can reach, basically. Soon that turns into just absolutely everywhere, and she knows that there is definitely some morning wood ready for her to play with. He loves her, and they are finally going to be okay.

"Can I take that as a returning of my sentiments?" he asks in-between kisses.

"I love you too, doofus," she tells him finally, rolling her eyes at him.

At that moment, he smiles so widely that it looks as if he has coat hangers in the corners of his mouth, and she can finally see that he is as in love with her as she is with him. He smiles happily, and rewards her for that confession by slowly kissing a line from her jaw line to her chest and then lower, and even lower. She is breathless.

There is nothing in her life that has ever compared to this. She loves him and he loves her back, and she wants to kick herself for mooning over Marius for so long when she could have spent all that time with him. This feels nothing like the feelings she had when she was in love with the idea of Marius – or more accurately her ideal version of her former best friend. This is all encompassing, and it has changed her life for good – in both senses of that term. Even if Marius had eventually reciprocated, it never could have been as amazing as this. This is suspiciously meant to be.

"Let's try this thing called morning sex," she grabs hold of morning wood and smiles triumphantly as his breath gets labored and he stops kissing her.

"It sounds interesting," he can barely get the words out before he is back to the kissing.

She has created a monster!

AN: So, let me know your favorite parts of this final chapter.

Also, let me know where you see these two going after this – what you see happening in their future.


	20. Epilogue

My Best Friend's Wedding

Disclaimer: Even when this fic is over and done, I still will not own it.

AN: This is it girls, this is actually the last part of My Best Friend's Wedding. It is dedicated to the amazing Mary, my main bitch, my beta, my BIFF – because this fic would not be half as awesome without her encouragement and gentle criticism and her flailing over the good parts.

Special mentions to Sophie-Louise, Sabrina, Lily, Thea and Seredhiel – for being supportive and awesome and kind. Anyone on the forum – I love you all!

Here goes!

**Epilogue!**

November

It feels like only days ago that she left the Enjolras family behind to go back to work, but it has been weeks. It was long enough ago for it to now be the Thanksgiving holidays, and she has been invited to spend these holidays with her dear Gabe's family. Azelma is once again away – this time with several friends – and Gavroche is spending the holidays with his girlfriend's family a couple states over. Her little brother is terrified of hanging out with the family, while she is so excited to see these wonderful people again.

"You're more excited about this than I am," her Gabe notes as he pulls over.

"I love your family," she grins at him, her hand a comforting presence on his thigh. "Your sister is one of my favorite people in the world, and your parents are amazing. Henry is going to make some brilliant comments again, and Marie will already have gotten big."

He seems surprised at how happy she is about the whole deal; when she has never placed too much value on family relationships other than with her own siblings. But she likes his family, oddities and all, and she would love to see them all again now that she and her Gabe are actually officially together and in love.

"It has not been that long," he fondly rolls his eyes at her.

"Babies grow really fast," she reminds him as she gets out of the car. "Before you know it you'll be sitting in the front yard with a shotgun scaring the guys away from her."

That picture does not make him very happy, it seems, seeing as he is grumbling even more now that he is out of the car and picking up his suitcase. She is already lugging her own suitcase in the direction of the door, already mentally kicking herself for bringing so much stuff with her. She should not still be so desperate to impress him and his family, right? She has seen them before and they liked her. She needs to take deep breaths.

"That isn't funny," he tells her before she rings the doorbell.

"Well, no shotgun then," she starts to hear footsteps coming closer to the door. "But I'm sure you'll tell them all that you know people and that they should be careful with her."

The footsteps get closer and closer until the door finally opens to reveal Henry, and he is looking much the same as he did when she last saw him – though he is looking a bit more stressed at this very moment. He motions them inside quickly, as if he is rushing to get back to something. And when they hear the shouting coming from the kitchen, the look her Gabe sends her tells her that he knows what it is and that he can solve it.

She still has absolutely no idea what the hell is going on.

"Henry," she awkwardly hugs him, because she believes that is what you're supposed to do with your boyfriend's family, even if you do not know them very well. "It is so nice to see you again, under better circumstances this time!"

Now that her Gabe is suddenly rushing off in the direction of the shouting, Henry seems to be a bit more at ease. He takes a deep breath and sits down on the couch, barely showing any interest in the sports talk currently on the television.

"Care to tell me what's going on here?" she asks, dumping her stuff.

"This is how things always go during Thanksgiving weekend," Henry reveals to her, his worry seeming to decrease with every deep breath. "Alice is always trying to cook, since she is the best at it, but when she is in one of her states things could get really dangerous without anyone there to stop her. Gabriel used to do that – and that's probably what he's doing right now. He is going to be Kitchen Nazi. You'd better stay here."

That very second, the door slams open, revealing a frazzled Natalie holding her daughter in her arms. She is practically rushing towards her dear husband, and her quick exit from the apparent disaster area is followed by her Gabe using his scary and important lawyer voice on his mother. She cannot exactly make out any of the words, but she has heard him use that tone on uncooperative clients. She knows this part of him.

"Kitchen Nazi has taken over," Natalie hands her daughter over to her husband.

"Hey Natalie," she smiles at her new friend and the baby girl.

Dang, Marie is already bigger than she was just a few short weeks ago. The tiny little curls have grown a bit, and somehow when the little girl sees her again, she actually smiles a little and waves her arms around, smacking her father.

"You look happy," the other woman quickly notices, coming over to hug her. "I hope that means my brother has figured out that he is madly in love with you."

Oh yes, she has almost forgotten just how direct her friend is – even to her brother's girlfriend about their sex life, which makes for some delightful conversations that are to be had in front of her Gabe and the entire family. After all, Natalie is the one who gave him several condoms, because she somehow knew that they would not stop at one. At this point they have their own stash, but she is still grateful to Natalie.

"Thanks for the condoms," she replies bluntly, hoping to get a good response.

"Please don't tell me any details about their use," Natalie pleads with her. "There are some things that I can definitely live without knowing, and my brother and his private serenading is one of those things. I'm glad that you're happy, though."

Private serenading? That is probably one of the most interesting euphemisms for sex that she has ever heard – and she works with high school students, so she hears somewhat interesting things all of the damn time. This is probably some stupid joke related to her Gabe's short career as a high school performer. It is just one more example of the random hilarity that is the Enjolras family.

Speaking of the random hilarity – the exaggerated scream coming from the kitchen would usually have her freaking out and running to see if Enj is safe, but since neither Natalie nor Henry is even flinching or moving an inch, she stays still and waits for some kind of explanation. Is this just another thing that used to happen every year?

"Mom and Gabe have different views on cooking and recipes," Natalie finally realizes that this deserves some kind of explanation from her side. "Mom tends to just throw stuff in and hope it comes out okay, and your dear Gabe always wants to follow the recipe to the letter, like the kitchen Nazi he is. This is almost normal here."

Yes, that sounds like typical Gabe. But if those recipes give her stuff that is equally amazing as his lasagna or the tiramisu, she will follow his every order.

"Why do you call him my Gabe?" she has to ask.

"Because it is pretty obvious that he is all yours," Natalie happily answers. "You might as well start calling me sis, because that is obviously where this is heading."

That is not a thing that Natalie should tell people, because even though she feels sure that her Gabe loves her, and that she loves him – she also knows that any mention of a more permanent future together will really freak him out. They have only been together for a few weeks – it has only been official between the two of them for a few weeks, anyway. She does not want to spook him, because he was celibate only two months ago, and he thought that he would never be in any kind of relationship. Bringing up marriage and a permanent future might spook him into taking a step back.

"You might as well not freak him out," she is trying to shut Natalie up.

"I'm careful," the other woman grins at her. "I am not saying it in front of him."

The mischievous spirit that she loves about Natalie can occasionally get a bit too much, especially when they are talking about a big thing like the future and marriage. She loves her Gabriel, she really does – but this is still too much too fast.

"Though we're still going to tease him," she gets the point then.

"Dinner's ready," her Gabe is walking towards her, looking haggard and tired.

She knows that spending time with his mother always takes a lot out of him, so she takes the final steps towards him and wraps him in her arms. His muscles are extremely tense against her body at first, but they slowly start to relax once she refuses to let go until he is a lot more relaxed. She does not care how long that will take; she just wants him to remember that she will always be here when he needs her.

There are no objections to playing footsie underneath the table if he remains so tense.

"You okay?" she asks when he steps back.

"As good as it gets," he replies, so she takes his hand and clasps it in hers.

Natalie is catcalling mockingly, because this is about the extent that their public displays of affection will go. They are not going to be that cutesy kind of couple that is constantly touching each other for reassurance, and they are not going to be making out in alcoves constantly – he wishes, he really does. She will touch him when she wants to and he will do so when he wants to, but they will never get too carried away.

Well, maybe once or twice.

"Nobody told me dear Éponine was here," Senior walks into the room.

The old man looks much healthier than he did the last time she saw him, and she happily rushes over to him to give the man a big hug. She has worried about him, but the occasional update from Gabe was enough to lessen her fears at least a little.

"Hey Senior," she smiles as they hug.

"Has Gabriel been treating you right?" the man has the nerve to ask.

Her Gabe immediately tenses, and she has to walk a tight line between telling Senior just how well she has been treated by her lover – and embarrassing everyone in the process – or saying something funny and possibly hurting her Gabe's feelings. She does not want to do that, so she ponders about what to say, leaving an awkward silence.

"He makes me very happy," she smiles widely, stepping back towards her Gabe.

"I am really trying not to say something dirty," Natalie is grinning.

Is that not always the case with Natalie? She wonders how things will be when Marie gets old enough to understand just what her mother is saying – the girl might become a terror, and she is already feeling a bit sorry for Henry. Still, she has a gut feeling that Henry will be able to handle just about everything.

"Let's just eat dinner," Henry plays mediator.

She will always remember this dinner as the time when she really became a part of the family – even though Alice's trick with the bread knife turned out to be even more dangerous than the description implied and her Gabe was too confused to be too close to her. She blames Natalie for calling her sis a few times.

These people might be odd, but she thinks of them as her family now.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

Christmas

This might be the first Christmas she has ever spent in an actual relationship, and she is just as surprised about it as he is – never having been in a relationship before. They are both so clueless about this spending the holidays together thing that they are only exchanging a few small gifts on his epic couch of awesomeness before they're ready for a nice, long, maybe even slightly acrobatic bout of Christmas sex.

"Why do we always start on the couch?" Gabe has long learned to tease her.

"Because I love this couch more than you," she is never going to let that joke rest.

He, of course, is determined to prove her wrong on that – which is never a bad thing in her opinion. His stubbornness will not allow him to let it go, and she knows she will be begging for more, please more, within minutes. He leans in and kisses her passionately, not even holding back anymore like he used to – he is taking the initiative and he is dominating this kiss. It is a real turn-on, so she does not mind it at all.

"Still love the couch more?" he teases as she pants and throws off her sweater.

She is left with just a thin tank top covering her upper half, but she is not shivering because he is moving on top of her and keeping her nice and warm. Even when her tank top ends up thrown over the coffee table, she is still comfortable and safe.

"Surprise," the door is thrown open, and she lets out a yelp.

There are not two, not three, not four, but about half a dozen people coming into her Gabe's apartment without him letting them in. R comes in first, together with Jehan and Courfeyrac – and the three men are followed by Marius and his Cosette. They now have five guests at their private Christmas celebration, and they are all carrying bags and they are looking at the two of them in surprise – because she still is not wearing a shirt.

"Enjolras I am really sorry for this," Combeferre follows his friends inside, talking up a storm to escape her Gabe's wrath. "I told them that they should knock, but they ran ahead and they would not listen to me. I swear we're almost thirty and mature adults."

They are still on the couch, and she is still not wearing a shirt – so Gabe is carefully on top of her, trying to cover her up and make sure the other men do not get an eyeful of her pretty new bra. It is red – Gabe's favorite color – and it does not afford a whole lot of coverage. It is meant for days with Gabe, as her special Christmas present to him, and it is not mean to be seen by everyone but her lover.

"Turn around, all of you," her 'Jolras orders his friends, and they actually listen.

She quickly grabs her tank top off the coffee table, and while she does not miss Gabe's final appreciative glance at her pretty red bra, she is forced to keep getting dressed because she cannot act on her lust for him in front of their friends. Her sweater is still dangling somewhere, but she is sufficiently covered to move from her current position.

Only, she really does not want to move from her current position.

"Red is his favorite color, you know," Courfeyrac has to be an idiot again.

From her vantage point, she can see Jehan smacking his friend on the back of the head, and she can hear Courf yelping in pain. She has to stifle a giggle as her Gabe climbs off her and helps her sit up after planting a quick kiss on her lips.

"I am so sorry for interrupting," Cosette smiles knowingly at them.

Her 'Jolras is turning slightly red, so she has to make it even worse by sitting on his lap on the couch of awesome and cuddling up to him before snagging her sweater which was hidden behind him. She grins teasingly and he cannot help but smile back at her, because it is Christmas and they are happy and even though their friends have the worst timing in the world, she also knows that things are going to be fun.

"Nice hickey, Enjolras," R smirks and gets handed money from Jehan, Courfeyrac, and even from Combeferre. "Guess that means that I win."

Of course those idiots would bet on her relationship with Gabe, and of course R would be the one to actually win the bet. He is the sneaky bastard in the group – Jehan is way too romantic and Courfeyrac does not understand enough of her Gabe's issues with love, sex, and relationships. She had expected Combeferre to do better, though.

"You're all assholes," she announces, not wanting to move away from Gabe.

"Merry Christmas, Eppie," Marius smiles at her with those words, and she remembers the many Christmases that they spent together – and it does not hurt.

Most of the people she loves are actually in the same room, and the man she loves and sees a future with is holding her gently as they make fun of their friends together. Gabe is pulling a face as Jehan pulls out flowers for her, even though it is Gabe's apartment and they are not hosting a thing for their friends. When the others start handing them various ingredients, they share a look and realize that they have just been finagled into making Christmas dinner for the whole group – the shits.

"I am not letting Gabe do the cooking for every holiday," she announces, because his friends are obviously aware of his skills. "He had to cook at his parents' place for Thanksgiving, and knowing you idiots, he'll have to do it again now."

The response she gets makes it obvious that Gabe will once again be expected to do everything while she has to play hostess for these dorks – all she wanted was a nice Christmas with him, and she does not want to spend the rest of the afternoon playing babysitter while her Gabe is stuck in the kitchen with someone else.

"You went to meet the family for Thanksgiving?" Combeferre is surprised.

"I met them before that," she speaks, happy to rub this in their faces. "They're all very lovely people. Alice showed me some great pictures of Gabriel and Ralph."

That flusters R beyond all recognition, and her 'Jolras does not appear to be too happy to be referred to by his first name in front of his friends. She calls him Gabe or Gabriel almost all of the time now, so it was bound to come up eventually – at least this time people are going to be more interested in her dear R Grant to worry about Gabe.

"Ralph?" Marius is the first to crack, almost giggling with the discovery.

"Can he wreck it?" Courfeyrac takes up the joke with glee. "Yes he can!"

She loves that Courf can reference an animated movie without pretending that doing so is not cool, and the frustrated look on R's face is making it a whole lot better. Cosette is once again wondering how she got here with these people – she has seen that look on people's faces before and she knows it well. She loves these boys and all of their silliness and their antics. But right now, these idiots need to be put to work already.

"Here is how this is going to work," she slips into the role of leader quite easily. "All you idiots with your ingredients are going to go into the kitchen and help prepare the food – but remember that Gabe is in charge of the cooking. I've had his food, and your mediocre imitations cannot compare. Cosette, would you like a glass of wine?"

The only other woman present is stunned at not being ordered into the kitchen, but she gives a quick smile in her direction. This is her way of making a peace offering for anything stupid she did when she was still trying to steal Marius from Cosette.

"I'll whip the boys into shape," Cosette tells her after R shakes his head at her.

"And I'll have a glass of wine," R obviously needs to talk to her about something.

Cosette basically marches the boys into the kitchen, earning her a grateful look from Gabe – who sends a flirtatious look in her direction before helping Cosette get the idiots into the kitchen. She has to hide a smile because of his slowly growing confidence – he is getting more and more comfortable being in a relationship with her, showing her off as his partner in front of other people more and more. He usually calls her his Éponine rather than using the immature word girlfriend.

"Don't sit on the couch," Courf throws out a parting shot. "You don't know what they've been doing on that one. We only got a hint of something before."

That earns him an eye roll and a glare from her, and her 'Jolras responds by basically shoving his friend in the direction of the kitchen – but not before he shoots a wink at her because he remembers what happened when they were supposed to go to a Halloween party, and again with his office party last week. The couch is the go to spot when they simply cannot make it to the bedroom. And they often do not make it there.

At least, not on the first try.

"How long has this been going on?" R gets right to the point.

"Officially it has only been about two months or so," she shrugs, sitting back down on the couch. "Though this thing started when I asked him to go to the wedding with me. We just – I – he… Somehow this relationship just works. We love each other."

The flinch of pain from R means that while he can talk a great game about not having these feelings for her 'Jolras anymore – it still will not be true. He had apparently held out a bit of hope that Gabe would finally realize that he needed someone there – and he did, only the person that Gabe wanted and needed was not Ralph Grant, it was she. She likes R, and she hopes he will not hate her forever.

"I'm sorry," she tells him, knowing she is ruining things for him.

"Don't be," R shakes his head vehemently. "I'm an idiot and I know it. But this is good, because he's happy. I don't think I've ever seen him so happy."

She wraps her arms around R without so much as a thought, because she is so grateful that her lover's oldest friend can see how much she means to her Gabe. She is in love and she has never felt this way before and it is Christmas and she is turning into a sap!

"You're my idiot," she tells R. "You are my friend now, and… R, you might be my hero!"

The sound of a pointed cough makes them break apart, but there is no guilt or any real awkwardness about it. She has decided that R will be her close friend, and she is not going back on that decision – they are both sarcastic shits with dark dispositions, and she knows that they will be able to provide hilarious running commentary on the goings on at this Amis Christmas dinner. This should be good.

"When's my turn for a hug?" Marius is standing behind the couch, grinning that adorable grin that made her weak in the knees once upon a time.

"Draw a number first," she tells him, rolling her eyes at him. "What's up?"

There has to be a reason for his appearance back in the living room when he only left for the kitchen a few minutes ago. She knows he has the tendency to piss off her Gabe with comments about Napoleon, but she really doubts that he works that fast.

"I just thought that there was something different about you and Enjolras," he tells her, and she is trying not to freak out about this. "I can't quite put my finger on it, though, but maybe it is that you're both more comfortable in the relationship."

She bloody well hopes so – because last time Marius saw them they were still drawing the line at kissing and minor petting. Also, she barely had any idea about who Gabe is as a person and where he came from. She has learned a lot of things over the course of the last few months – about herself as well as about her Gabe.

"Was that all you came here to say?" R is not done with the private conversation that they were having before the dork interrupted. "Because we were talking here."

It comes out much more hostile than it was intended, but Marius just takes it at face value, smiles at the both of them and then heads back in the direction of the chopping sounds – she can even hear some frustrated groans that sound suspiciously like her Gabe when things are not going his way. He gets adorably huffy sometimes when the world appears to be toying with his feelings, and she just distracts him from his troubles or makes him feel better – whatever he wants to call it that day.

"Don't forget the hugging," she adds, grinning.

"How did it happen?" R continues to ask questions.

This is not how she wanted to have this conversation, especially not on the couch where she was making out with Gabe just minutes ago. She cannot give him details, but he is also the only friend who would understand the things that she now knows about Gabe and his family. She still wonders why Gabe did not call R when Senior got sick.

"It started at the wedding," she shrugs, trying to understand just how this happened with her and Gabe. "Things just developed so gradually that I cannot pinpoint the one situation where everything changed. He cooked me dinner on my birthday and it was lovely – but then Natalie called because Senior had a heart attack."

Gabe did not tell his friend about this – and she worries about causing a crack in this friendship, but she also knows that R deserves to know, and he deserves to hear it from someone he can trust. He has to understand about the relationship, and he can't not know about the heart attack if he gets in touch with the other members of the Enjolras family – because she knows he will not let these people go ignored.

"Is he okay?" R is shocked at this part.

"He was a lot better by the time we left," she tells him, trying to reassure him. "He just has to watch himself a bit better. Natalie had her baby, and Marie is an absolute darling – but seeing as you're grinning you knew about that one already."

Every single time she thinks of that baby girl she gets a smile on his face. That smile is now mirrored on R's face, and while he probably has not seen the little girl in real life, he has obviously seen pictures of her. She might have to show him the pictures she has of Gabe holding her over the Thanksgiving holidays – because her heart just about melted when she saw him gently cradling his niece and singing her lullabies in his deep voice.

"Nat and I have always kept in touch," R shrugs, a sly grin on his face.

"You sly dog," she has to grin as well. "Well, I went with back home with Gabe because he was in no state to drive – and things just progressed from there. He's my Gabe."

No stupid word like boyfriend can capture how much Gabe has come to mean to her. R is distracted from answering by the appearance of Jehan, who enters the room, briefly looks at R in a way that she cannot quite decipher, and then turns around when he notices that she is staring at him and that he has interrupted the conversation.

"What was that about?" she asks R after Jehan has left the room again.

"I don't know," R shrugs carelessly.

These two have never interacted all that much apart from the group, and to see them share a look that is rife with meaning is just odd to her. Maybe they talk more now that she and Gabe are on the other side of the country, but it still feels off, and R's refusal to discuss it makes her even more suspicious about it.

"Something's up," she mutters, not satisfied with that answer.

"I'm glad you make him so happy, Éponine," R interrupts. "I'm sure he's told you about Alice at this point. At times it wasn't easy, living in that house."

She is just glad that Gabe had a friend like R back then.

A few hours later, when the dinner has turned into an impromptu slumber party, she has finally cleaned up most of the mess left in the kitchen when her Gabe takes her to the bedroom, carrying her bridal style for the eager eyes of their audience. Marius and Cosette are sharing the guest room, but the other guys are camping out in the living room and staring at the two of them being romantic.

"We are not a documentary on the Discovery channel," she rolls her eyes at the boys to get in one final parting shot. "And there will be no observing the mating process."

It makes them smile a little, but it certainly does not make them back off even the slightest bit – they continue to stare at the two of them even though they are almost out of sight and they are getting ready to enter Gabe's bedroom, where they can no longer be seen by the peanut gallery occupying the living room.

"Do it like they do on the discovery channel," Courfeyrac starts singing.

"So, these idiots are going to be listening to us all night," she tells her Gabe as soon as they close the door to his room behind them. "Put me down and we'll show them."

There is probably a very evil gleam in her eye, but Gabe is in no way disturbed by that – because he is still very much interested in being her partner in crime. He smiles at her with all the love he feels for her showing in his eyes, and she is once again reminded of how well her evil plans turned out for her. But she is not done scheming yet – the idiots in the living room will never stop messing with them if they do not show them just who's boss. And they might as well do that right now.

"I think we can do better than the discovery channel," he speaks up loudly.

"Good," she grins, also acting for the benefit of their friends. "Because I am going to need you to do that thing with your tongue again. I promise to return the favor."

Her dear Gabe still cannot talk about this without blushing at least a little bit, and she finds that so lovely and endearing that she does not ever want him to get over that little quirk. He is acting quite well though, even having her backed into the door just in case the idiots are going to try to look through the keyhole.

"Take your clothes off before I rip them off," he says in that deep husky voice that always serves to drive her crazy – and he knows that a little too well.

She quickly takes off her sweater and hangs it over the door handle so that the boys will not actually be able to peek at them through the keyhole. She saw that trick in a movie – only that girl did it with her panties, and if she takes those off in front of Gabe they will no longer be faking anything. They'll be too busy losing their minds to even remember that their friends are basically in the next room.

"Your turn," she speaks as she hears footsteps coming closer.

They both get on the bed, kicking their footwear off but staying clothed, both rolling their eyes at how obvious their friends are being. The footsteps in the hallway get closer and closer until they can basically hear the heavy breathing outside of the door.

"So good," she fakes a moan.

"Ponine," his voice is hoarse and she knows she might actually be affecting him.

That is a bonus in this whole enterprise, but she cannot afford to get distracted by her continued attraction to him. She is never going to stop wanting him, but right now they are going to mess with their friends – so she sits up and tries to figure out how they can make the bed hit the wall rhythmically, so that everyone thinks they're fucking.

"Yes," she lets her voice go a bit shrill, and she pushes the bed against the wall.

Gabe is trying to stifle his laughter as he joins her in letting out fake moans that sound remarkably real. They let the bed hit the wall faster and faster and faster, and the fake moans reach a crescendo that must have the guys at the door lost for words.

"I'm so close," she shouts, climbing off the bed silently.

Her moves are slow and deliberate until she reaches the door, looking back to nod at Gabe so that he lets out one final growl. It is then that she yanks open the door, revealing R, Jehan, and Courfeyrac listening at the door – they practically tumble into the bedroom with the opening of the door, landing in a pile at her bare feet.

"You're not naked," Courf, ever the astute one, finally notices.

"You're a bunch of perverts," she tells the three of them in return as they try to pick themselves up off the bedroom floor. "Get a life of your own and stop worrying about our sex life. It is amazing and none of you are going to see even the slightest bit of it!"

She lords it over them triumphantly, because while she loves these dorks, they really need to just stay out of her business already. Gabe loves her, and she loves him back, and they really do not need to see the proof of just how much they love each other – they will just have to be content with seeing the obvious hickeys on Christmas morning. There are hickeys in places that they are never going to see.

When she kicks the guys out and Gabe makes good on his silent promise to do the thing with his tongue, she is reminded that it is indeed the most wonderful time of the year.

e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e

About four years later

The day she finally marries her best friend is here – it has been years in the making, starting with their first meeting all those years ago. They never thought that they would be here – not back then with that first meeting and that awful first impression when they both basically hated each other. Well, it was not exactly hate, but there was no way that they were actually going to get along – only he secretly saved her life on a dark and scary night and she kept telling him to perform impossible actions and get lost.

Ten years after their first meeting they were faced with each other again and everything was changing. She needed his help and he gave it – because he never turned down an offer for help. She has never been so glad that she asked for help.

"Are you ready?" her dear 'Zelma grins at her.

"I was born ready," she has to pull a cheesy line – her last one as an unmarried woman.

Her sister rolls her eyes at her, but Cosette is smiling happily as she fixes the veil one last time – at least, that is what she said the last five times. Emily is texting with her boyfriend and rolling her eyes at the screen on her mobile phone. Her bridesmaids are being so typically themselves that she just has to grin.

"Stop texting, Emily," she tells her young friend.

"Bastian is being an idiot, as usual," the young woman tosses her phone away. "But you look amazing, Éponine. Gabriel might weep with joy when he sees you."

The dress is not nearly as elaborate as the one Cosette wore at her wedding four years ago, but it is much more her. There are no beads and sparkles on it – it is nothing too crazy, but she knows that her Gabe will love the dress and the woman in it. He loves her when she wears nothing and he loves her when she gets home tired and sweaty and feeling gross and cursing up a storm at the kids in her school and how they just do not listen to her. Nothing about this so much as fazes her Gabe.

Soon he will actually be her Gabe forever and ever – and she will actually be Mrs. Gabriel Enjolras. She will be Éponine Enjolras – and she will be rid of the last part of Thénardier that she still has left. Actually, she kind of likes the silly alliteration in her new name, and how it is their names combined for the rest of their days. Éponine and Enjolras.

"We've lost her to thoughts of her almost husband again," Emily announces, waving her hand in front of her face to get her to snap out of it. "Five minutes until go time."

The moment should just get there already, because she is tired of waiting for it to finally come around. The date was set months ago, because that was the only way that they could make sure all of their friends would be able to be there. There was not a lot too organize – because Azelma was on that, since she is good with planning things and she knows a lot of people. All there was for her to do is to find a dress and to wait.

She succeeded in doing both with very little tolerance for all of the frills that are supposed to be involved in the engagement and wedding process.

"Can we go out early?" she asks, because she is impatient at ever.

"Look at Eppie having no cold feet whatsoever," her dear brother is finally there, getting ready to give her away. "Then again, Gabriel is just as impatient."

Marie comes in, fiddling with her basket of flowers – and obviously just as impatient as she is about just getting the show on the road already. She is four years old and looking more like her mother and uncle every single day. Marie still has the adorable blonde curls and the bright blue eyes that make her look like a complete angel, rather than the mischievous little devil she can be. She is her mother's daughter.

"Mommy says you need to come out," Marie tells her with a happy grin.

"You can go out first, Marie," she whispers and the little girl smiles. "Remember the flowers, honey! You can throw them anyway you want."

She has just given the girl permission to go nuts with the flowers, and she probably should regret that given the girl's behavior even without permission, but she does not care about the wedding being perfectly managed. She only cares about it being perfect for her and her Gabe; her 'Jolras, her future husband, and the love of her life.

Emily follows Marie out of the tiny side room with a smile on her face, and Cosette fixes the veil one last time before she too heads out. Azelma blows her a kiss on the way out, and then it is just she and her not so little brother, waiting for their cue.

"I am glad the Chief makes you happy," Gavroche tells her, holding out his arm.

"I'm glad you and 'Zelma like him," she responds, smiling at the happiest day of her life and being surrounded by the people she loves.

Her brother's arm is still out, and she hooks her arm in it to make the most traditional picture, even though their weird little family is anything but traditional. It is just the three of them, because their parents are never going to be a part of their lives ever again – they are not even invited to this wedding, and they will never know her Gabe.

"Thanks for doing this," she whispers to Gavroche as they reach the start of the aisle.

She looks up at the people present for the first time and she notices that all of her friends are present, and that her boss and friend Javert is tipping his metaphorical hat at her with a smile. But nothing is as good and as amazing as the look on her Gabe's face when he sees her in her dress – the smile on his face is in danger of reaching his ears any second now, and his eyes show so much love that she is more sure of this wedding than she has ever been. God, she loves this man!

The song that is playing is not the traditional wedding march, but rather an old Beatles song that they both fell in love with when Feuilly made them listen to it – the man is somewhat of an expert on everything, and he has been a godsend for some of the final details of this wedding. The man is now nodding happily at her.

"Take care of her," Gavroche hands her over to Gabe.

"Cross my heart," her Gabriel is completely serious about this. "Thank you Gavroche."

Their hands are clasped and their fingers intertwine as they face the official who is going to marry them. They are both smiling and happy.

"This is my favorite dress on you," her Gabe tells her.

It is not what she was expecting him to say at this point, but she is definitely willing to go with this, and to tease him about it – she will never let an opportunity to tease him slip through her fingers, unless it actually hurts his feelings. She remembers the few dresses she has worn for him over the years, and one sticks out above all others – and it is not the Sexy Dress™. It is the first dress that she wore for him and not for Marius.

"What about the red dress?" she teases him, because she will never stop doing that.

"I love the red dress," he lets out a laugh. "This one is better."

She doubts that she will ever get rid of that red dress – even if she gets too old to wear it herself, she will keep it around because that dress played such a part in their courtship that she will associate that dress with her first falling in love with her soon to be husband. The Sexy Dress™ will always be associated with bad decisions.

"That is high praise coming from you," she grins at him.

"Well, you look stunning," he takes her in one more time. "You always do, of course, but today is the best of all. And you're wearing my mom's necklace."

The necklace is delicate and beautiful, and she was actually crying when Alice gave it to her to wear for her wedding. Her mother would never give her anything – she never had – and here was this woman she'd only known for a few years handing her a family heirloom and telling her to wear it. It was lovely and wonderful and sad all at the same time. It reminded her of the bad, but it was also a nice reminder of the future.

"Something old," she tells him, playing with the necklace with her free hand.

It is silly to want to follow tradition in this, but when Alice gave her that necklace as her something old, she did not want to disappoint her future mother so she started thinking of ways to sit stuff into her ensemble. The necklace is her something old, and her bracelet is borrowed from Cosette. The dress has to be her something new.

"I don't see anything blue," he is trying to see if she adheres to all the traditions.

"That's for later," she sticks her tongue out at him. "When we're alone."

He is definitely happy with that, as she can see his eyes darken a bit at the idea, trying to figure out where exactly she might have hidden the something blue where only he will be able to see it. He will never know until she shows him.

"Oy," Courfeyrac interrupts the possibility for more banter. "Is your wedding interrupting your pleasant conversation and flirting?"

It is funny that they'd even be too busy bantering to participate in their own wedding, but it is just so typical of them that she can only find it hilarious. Here they are, an almost married couple that can barely stop talking to each other long enough to actually let the officiator marry the two of them.

The officiator coughs pointedly and she is reminded that they are supposed to be getting married rather than discussing what may or may not be underneath her wedding dress – it is not exactly an appropriate conversation to be having during the man's speech.

"Please proceed," she tries to smile charmingly at the man.

"Do you have the rings?" the man asks, and best man Combeferre hands them over.

It was one of the few things she took no part in, because she just wanted some simple ring that would not stand out too much – which is exactly what Azelma arranged. Gabe smiles at her as they get ready to speak their vows and exchange rings.

"I, Gabriel Alain Enjolras," he is happy, "take you, Éponine Marie Thénardier, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

The ring is slipped onto her ring finger and she eyes it with a smile, because while this is only a physical symbol of her bond to him, it will still be the thing that shows the world that she and Gabe are going to be together for the rest of their lives. This is what will tell people that they love each other and they always will.

"I, Eponine Marie Thénardier," her voice feels feeble, "take you, Gabriel Alain Enjolras, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

She is totally not getting a bit choked up over this – okay maybe a little. The officiator can say whatever he wants at this point, but all she is waiting for is the bit where they can kiss already because they are officially man and wife. She is this close to tapping her foot impatiently, which would probably not be thought of as appropriate, but she is still willing the officiator to stop talking so slowly. Most of her focus is on her Gabe's lips, and the rest of the church has basically disappeared – all she can see is him.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the officiator finally speaks, and the most important part of the wedding is finally here. "You may kiss the bride."

At the loud whooping of most of their guests, her Gabe dips her and plants a kiss on her that is both for dramatic effect and as a show of how sensual and sweet he can be. It is full of love, but still innocent enough to be seen by the guests.

"That's enough of that," R jokes like the idiot he is.

They break apart with proud and happy grins, ready to rush off without taking the time to listen for too long to whatever song Azelma picked out for this moment. Until she recognizes the slow song they danced to the night of Marius' bachelor party and she is lost for words – because somehow her sister knows that this song will never stop meaning the world to her. Everything changed when he stopped her from climbing into a cake in a stupid dress – and then he danced with her and the world just shifted.

"Stop staring at each other," Courfeyrac is once again interrupting a moment.

Gabe seems to know exactly what the song signifies, so he squeezes her hand as they face their guests as a married couple. The cheering intensifies until their friends rush off to do something stupid – she really hopes they won't throw rice or something equally stupid at them, because she is not spending her wedding night picking rice out of the most uncomfortable places. She is not disappointed.

When they head back up the aisle and they see the wedding party taking their places outside of the church, her Gabe lifts her up bridal style and she rolls her eyes at the silly tradition. Only she loves it as well, ducking her head into his chest to hide from any and all projectiles that the idiot boys might have thought of.

The first bubble hits her arm and she has to giggle at the startled look on her Gabe's face as he sees all of his friends blowing bubbles and acting like they are all little kids again – which is not even that much different from what they are usually up to. Still, she has to like this plan, because there is little to no mess left on people's clothes and even little Marie is helping with the bubbles – her little brother is still too young, but he is gurgling happily in his mother's arms while Henry blows bubbles in his direction.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Enjolras," Combeferre shouts, and there is more cheering.

Gabe just stands there for a little while, just taking it all in with her, before he rushes off in the direction of the car – where their driver is already waiting for them.

"See you at the reception, suckers," she shouts at their friends.

"You would say that," Gabe is shaking his head and smiling.

They reach the car and the driver opens the door for them. Gabe puts her down gently, and she immediately scoots over to make room for him next to her – he will always have a place right next to her. For as long as he wants it: which is forever.

"You know," she starts talking again. "It's funny how I totally managed to achieve my goal. All of this started because I needed to find a way to get my best friend to marry me, and now look, it has worked, because I married my best friend."

It sounds so adorable to the driver to have the newlywed couple talking about marrying their best friend, but Gabe obviously is not all that happy about what she is saying – that is, if he even really understands what she is trying to say.

"Did the wedding madness get to you?" her Gabe does not understand what she means.

"Come on Gabe," she rolls her eyes at him. "You're my best friend; because we share everything. We will even share the rest of our lives."

Gabe now seems to get it, because he leans in to give her a quick kiss. She really has to hold herself back from making it into something more exciting that the driver of this car should not be seeing– so they let go of each other rather quickly.

"Bring it on, future," she grins.

She is already imagining where they'll be in ten years, or fifteen. This is not what she thought would happen, it is not where she thought she would be at this age – it is better.

**THE END**

AN: Those last words – I can't even deal with the fact that this is over, but it is. This is actually it. As always, leave me your favorite parts of this chapter or of the entire fic in the comments/reviews.

If you want to keep up with what I'm doing – follow me on Tumblr as textsfromumbridge. Or if you want some lovely E/E shippers to talk to – come ask me for the link to the exclusive forum where we all talk about things…

This has been so wonderful. I love every single one of you who has read this far. Whenever you read this, remember that I love you and I am so grateful.

Inge out, bitches!


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